Thousands of people are without power and flash flooding has been reported across Toronto after severe weather slammed the city this afternoon.
A heavy thunderstorm passed through the city for about an hour Wednesday, swelling waterways, downing trees and flooding basements.
According to the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, the storm dropped about 65 millimetres of rain on some areas of the city within about half an hour.
Video sent to CP24 showed dozens of cars half-submerged in water in a parking lot near Eglinton Avenue and Caledonia Road. Basement homes in the area were also reportedly flooded.
Const. Alex Li told CP24 that 911 and emergency services have been inundated with a flood of calls for service about downed trees, fallen wires and flooding.
Although we understand that those are concerns for our residents in the city, we want to reiterate to please contact 311 and utilize that resource to rectify these issues. We don’t want our 911 lines to be tied up with non-emergency calls, Li said.
Trees down, wires down or flooding should go directly to 311. However, if you do see anything that is a public safety issue with regards to a sparking wire or a transformer that might be exploding or on fire due to the rain then please utilize 911 and we will respond with emergency services.”
Environment Canada said the storm was capable of producing strong wind gusts and rainfall accumulation of between 50 and 70 millimetres.
“Wind gusts up to 100 kilometres per hour are likely on the west side of Toronto,” the weather advisory read.
The storm also briefly triggered a tornado watch for the city, but it was cancelled at around 3:13 p.m., roughly 25 minutes after it was issued.
“It is moving very quickly but at the same time, it’s severe and it’s giving a lot of rain…. in a very short amount of time,” Environment Canada meteorologist Gerald Chang told CP24 as the storm was still raging.
“When we’re talking about that rainfall amount, around 80 mm of rain is really the monthly rainfall for Toronto so this is quite significant and it could lead to flash flooding.”
He noted that the “isolated” storm was mostly impacting the city’s west end.
In the area of Keele Street and Lawrence Avenue, police received reports of a car floating away and a person in a canoe on the roadway.
Police also said the city’s Black Creek River has “broken banks in several places” and townhomes in the area of Weston Road and Humber Boulevard might need to be evacuated due to possible flooding.
Toronto Hydro is reporting scattered outages across Toronto due to heavy rain and high winds. Thousands of customers remained without power as of 5:15 p.m.
Crews are working as quickly & safely as possible to restore power, provided the conditions are safe & favourable to perform work activities, the utility said in a tweet. We appreciate everyones patience today as we know it’s hot out.
Toronto Hydro said some customers might not see power restored until tomorrow morning.
We understand that customers need to know when power will be back on. Crews will work around the clock, however some customers should be prepared for outages to last into the morning. If you have any storm damage close to your home, you may experience a longer outage.
Toronto Hydro (@TorontoHydro) July 8, 2020
The storm and outages come as Toronto continues to sit under a heat warning. Temperatures have consistently been above 30 C in the city this week. A high of 30 C was forecast for Toronto Wednesday evening, but it feels more like 37 with the humidity.
While sunny skies appeared across much of the city following the storm, a severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect for the city, with Environment Canada cautioning about the possibility of thunderstorms into the evening.read more
Flash flooding, hydro outages reported as severe weather hits Toronto – CP24 Toronto’s Breaking News
