It was commuter chaos on Tuesday afternoon and evening as major public transit hubs and highways were closed due to flooding from excessive rain.
All southbound lanes of the DVP remained closed at Bayview/Bloor due to flooding. Northbound DVP at Dundas Street East was also closed.听
At Union Station, security guards and TTC workers were preventing commuters from accessing the subway platform due to the flooding, advising them to walk to the nearest stations 鈥 St. Andrew or King 鈥 instead. Passengers rerouted to King Station from Union were having trouble getting down to the platform due to the large crowds.
The TTC and Metrolinx said after 8 p.m. that Union Station is now operating at normal levels with some residual delays of about 20 to 30 minutes for GO Train services.
Nav Kaur was supposed to catch her GO Train to Vaughan earlier this afternoon, but when she got to the platform it never came.
鈥淚 came down here and spoke to a representative. They didn鈥檛 even know what was going on.鈥
Stranded commuters grab snacks at Union Station.听
Nick Lachance 海角社区官网Star海角社区官网saw roughly 98 mm of rain on Tuesday, with more showers expected, the fifth wettest day on record (tracking since 1938), Environment Canada reported after 5 p.m.
海角社区官网Pearson normally receives 74 mm throughout all of the month of July 鈥渨e鈥檝e received more than a month鈥檚 worth in a day,鈥 Environment Canada meteorologist Trudy Kidd said.
Environment Canada issued a new severe thunderstorm watch for a large swath of southwestern Ontario, west of the GTA, shortly after 4:30 p.m. The federal agency warned of rainfall approaching 30 mm and strong winds gusting to 90 km/h, lasting from this afternoon and into the evening.
海角社区官网Fire processed nearly 1,700 calls for service and dispatched to almost 500 incidents between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. today. With more than 50 elevator rescue calls, more than 50 water calls and over 20 people rescued from cars and buildings as a result of the significant rain, officials posted on X on Tuesday evening.
Earlier, drivers had to be听rescued from their stranded vehicles听as 海角社区官网streets and major highways saw significant flooding on Tuesday.听
After 25 years as a transport driver, Jim McCauley thought he鈥檇 seen it all. Thunderstorms, snowstorms, bad drivers. You name it.
But that all changed Tuesday after McCauley found himself stranded on the Don Valley Parkway for hours due to flooding from the Don River.
His truck got stuck while heading northbound on the DVP from the Gardiner. He said police officers tried to get him to reverse, but he wasn鈥檛 taking any chances with a vehicle as big as his.
鈥淭hey wanted to get everybody off the highway, but with us being truck drivers, we can’t just do a U-turn on the Don Valley,鈥 McCauley said. 鈥淭here isn’t enough room, and if we’re loaded heavy, tires will pop off.鈥
McCauley said he got out of his vehicle and stood with other stranded drivers, watching as abandoned cars floated by in the water and collided.
鈥淭he water, on some cars, was almost up to the roof,鈥 he said. He estimated the levels rose about six inches above the tires on his truck.
Eventually, McCauley was given the green light to return to his truck. But even then, he said he only managed to drive about 300 feet over within another two hours.
鈥淚t was a little scary at times. My truck started spitting and sputtering when I was going through the deep, deep water.鈥
When he pulled over later, he saw tree branches, twigs, grass, and plastic from the Don River lodged in the front of his truck.
Reflecting on his experience after the ordeal, McCauley said he was relieved to finally be back at the truck yard.
鈥淚’m going to go home and have a beverage. Maybe two,鈥 he chuckled. 鈥 Calvi Leon
Environment Canada is calling for up to 125 mm of rain on Tuesday. There may be 40 mm of rainfall per hour.
Read more updates: /news/gta/more-than-165-000-customers-reportedly-without-power-dvp-lanes-flooded-some-ttc-stations-closed/article_b9701594-4366-11ef-b5d7-8ffe556ab983.html
Power outages
6:44 p.m.听Multiple hydro one stations experienced loss of supply today because of the rain, said Hydro One spokesperson Tiziana Baccega Rosa. As of 6:30 p.m., all of them had been brought back online and most people had their power restored. One station in west end Toronto, however, was still flooded. Crews were pumping water out of the station. There was no estimate for when service would be restored.
鈥淭he focus is on getting the water out to determine the cause and make necessary repairs,鈥 said Baccega Rosa.
鈥淚n the meantime, we ask people to reduce strain on the electricity system,鈥 she said, by turning down their A/C or turning off large appliances, like laundry machines.
3:55 p.m.听Premier Doug Ford said he鈥檚 personally spoken to the CEO of 海角社区官网Hydro and had put a call into the head of Hydro One.听Flooded stations have been pumped out now 鈥渁nd I understand power is going back on,鈥 Ford said from Halifax on Tuesday, where he is attending the annual meeting of Canada鈥檚 premiers. 鈥淲e鈥檝e put into flood management over $2 billion to help communities and we are pouring money into Toronto, too, for their old infrastructure, to support them,鈥 he told reporters.
Ford said even his own home in Etobicoke didn鈥檛 escape the heavy rainfall. 鈥淢y house got flooded out 鈥 the basement is all flooded right now I was told,鈥 said Ford. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate when we have natural, little disasters 鈥 these are mini ones compared to what it could be. But we are pouring money into infrastructure 鈥 we鈥檒l continue to upgrade all the pipes 鈥 We are making sure that we upgrade a lot of antiquated piping throughout the entire city. But we are always there to support our municipalities across Ontario.鈥 He said he will immediately reach out to 海角社区官网Mayor Olivia Chow. 鈥淓veryone鈥檚 safe and sound, thank God,鈥 the premier said. 鈥 Kris Rushowy
Canadian rapper Drake shared this video to his Instagram account which appears to show his home flooding.听
Champagne Papi / Instagram3:19 p.m. 海角社区官网Hydro said suspected flooding at a Hydro One transmission station may have caused the widespread power outages across the city, with approximately 123,000 customers still in the dark as of 3 p.m. Hydro One is the provincial utility that provides electricity to regional companies like 海角社区官网Hydro. Power will be restored to most areas by midnight, 海角社区官网Hydro estimates. 鈥淧lease know that we are working closely with Hydro One to resolve the issue and restore power as quickly and safely as possible,鈥 海角社区官网Hydro spokesperson Daniel McNeil told the Star in an email.
At one point, 海角社区官网Hydro reported more than 170,000 customers were left in the dark and thousands of people waiting in a virtual queue to submit additional outages. 海角社区官网Hydro has blamed some of its widespread outages on HydroOne, the provincial electricity supplier.听
Don’t call the dispatch centre if your power is out, said 海角社区官网Hydro, asking the public to keep the lines open for public safety hazards and emergencies. 鈥 Mark Colley
A person is helped by emergency services after he found higher ground under the Dundas street bridge.听
Richard Lautens/海角社区官网StarTTC service disruptions due to flooding
4:32 p.m.听Some GO trains appear to be running, though hundreds of commuters are still in limbo. The station’s food court has been closed for hours, cordoned off by yellow caution tape and security guards stationed at different stairwells. Maintenance workers are blasting music on a speaker, as they vacuum water and mop the floors. 鈥 Calvi Leon
4:08 p.m.听St. Patrick, Osgoode and St. Andrew are now running trains through the stations. Union is still being bypassed and remains fully closed off. The 509 Harbourfront streetcar can’t enter the station so it’s being replaced with the 510 Spadina replacement bus along Queens Quay and up to Bay and Front streets. There was no service at Pape Station on Line 2 but it reopened in the evening, and Line 2 subway service is still suspended between Jane and Kipling stations due to a west end power outage where shuttle buses are still operating. A number of service disruptions are still taking place across the streetcar system due to traffic congestion and effects of flooding.
3:53 p.m.听Down the stairs at the lower level of Union Station, Go Train passengers sound exasperated.听鈥淚t鈥檚 messed up here. No trains are leaving,鈥 one passenger could be heard saying over the phone.听鈥淭here鈥檚 only one way out of the city,鈥 another said, as they pushed through the crowds.听
Kingsman Lai said he鈥檚 been waiting nearly two hours for his train to depart to Mississauga. 鈥淭here’s nothing we can do,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just waiting around. My office has no power anyway.鈥 鈥 Calvi Leon
2:42 p.m.听Regular service has resumed between St. George and King stations after an earlier power failure.听
1:41 p.m.听鈥淭he TTC is closed!鈥 a Union Station guide yells, trying to field questions from commuters. 鈥淭he station is flooded.听Unless you want to go down there and ride a submarine, the TTC is closed,鈥 she told frustrated passengers. The subway at Union Station remains closed. 鈥 Andy Takagi听
1:39 p.m.听TTC monitoring Kennedy and Spadina stations but trains still running at both. No streetcar service to Union 鈥 turning at Fleet Loop at Bathurst.
1:16 p.m.听Trains also not running between Kipling and Jane stations due to power failure. Shuttle buses are operating.
12:26 p.m. Water slowly leaked through the bottom floor of Union Station, blocking off the GO station platform.听A lone security guard turned away would-be travellers. 鈥淕o back, I鈥檓 sorry, go back.鈥澨鼳 frustrated man tries to make his way forward, pushing against the security guard until he finally gives up, turning back out into the rain in a huff.听Outside of Union鈥檚 York St. exit, cars slosh through flooded roads, one sits idling in a pool of water, its hazards on as others push through nearly a foot of water. 鈥 Andy Takagi听
Heavy rains hammered 海角社区官网on Tuesday morning. A number of motorists were stranded on the DVP as it completely flooded at Dundas street.听
Richard Lautens/海角社区官网StarSchools in the city
The 海角社区官网District School Board said around 20 schools are dealing with power outages after Tuesday’s storm and others may also be impacted by flooding.
Students attending any summer programs will reportedly hear directly from the program operator as early as possible in the morning.
海角社区官网Catholic District School Board said it dealt with a few outages during the afternoon but “power seems to be restored to most schools.”
The school board added it is not aware of any additional outages or flooding issues at its summer school locations.
海角社区官网fire “island” rescue
A person had to be rescued from an “island” created by fast flowing and elevated waters from todays rainfall in Etobicoke, 海角社区官网fire said.
Fire services received a report at around 5:30 p.m about a person stranded in the water at Etobicoke Creek near Sherway Gardens.
The crews arrived and located a person that was on a patch of land that had been isolated from the mainland due to rising water.
海角社区官网Fire said the person did not want any medical aid at the time of emergency services arrival.
Crews reportedly stayed on scene to try and figure out how to rescue the person, as they were not able to go directly to them.
With the water levels rising and speed increasing, it was determined that a helicopter would be needed for the rescue, 海角社区官网fire said.
A Canadian Armed Forces helicopter then arrived at around 8:45 p.m., where the person was lifted from the island and brought to a Peel paramedics ambulance for assessment.
听
Heavy rains hammered 海角社区官网on Tuesday morning. A number of motorists were stranded on the DVP as it completely flooded at Dundas street.
Richard Lautens/海角社区官网Star
- Kevin Jiang
Drove through a flooded street? How to know if your car is damaged
Certain streets were underwater Tuesday as听海角社区官网weathered a downpour听that left thousands without power and drivers stranded on roads that had transformed into canals.
Warnings of localized flooding听were issued as videos of cars driving through听鈥 and听getting stranded in 鈥斕齱heel-height water circulated on social media.
Driving experts and mechanics warned never to drive in flooded areas if possible, lest you risk permanently damaging your vehicle or potentially sparking an electrical fire.
Deputy Fire Chief Jim Jessop told reporters at city hall that 海角社区官网Fire鈥檚 call volume was triple its normal hourly rate, and the service was rescuing people from cars and elevators. While calls were coming in for flooded homes and apartment buildings, as well as alarms set off by water trickling into building control panels, he said the agency was prioritizing responses to life-threatening situations. 鈥淭here鈥檚 certainly going to be a lag time on response for non-life threatening calls,鈥 he warned.
Billy Bishop and 海角社区官网Pearson airports impacted by storm
海角社区官网Pearson Airport said that it was their fifth wettest day ever recorded at the airport after it saw 97.41 mm of rainfall.
The airport also said Tuesday’s storm “smashed the previous record for daily rainfall on July 16, 1941, when 25.9 mm of rain fell at the airport.”
Some roadways surrounding the airport have been closed due to flooding, with the airport confirming that听Convair Drive is closed in both directions between Britannia Road East and Flightline Drive. It will reportedly remain closed for approximately two days to allow water to clear, as well as a roadway safety assessment.
海角社区官网Pearson said their operations remained unimpacted by the rainfall and have seen “a good flow of aircraft departures and arrivals.”
Billy Bishop airport said some flights have been impacted as of 1 p.m. The pedestrian tunnel at the airport was swamped due to the downpour, requiring its temporary closure at around noon.
“Tunnel is currently closed and all passengers and staff will be redirected to the ferry for access to and from the airport,” Billy Bishop airport said in a post on X.
Today was supposed to be Daphne Rely鈥檚 first time flying out of Billy Bishop Airport. And she picked one of the worst days to do it. In nearly three decades of living in the city, Rely said she鈥檚 never seen the flooding or rain this bad.
鈥淚t was pouring, like somebody just had a bucket and was pouring water.鈥
Her trek down to Union from North York bypassed several stops, but now she waits for her cousin, bags in hand, stranded on the wrong side of the Western Channel.
鈥淚鈥檓 still hoping that everything will be OK,鈥 Rely said, an optimistic smile on her face. 鈥 Andy Takagi
Kathy Stiliadis awaits a firefighter who helped her out of her car. Heavy rains hammered 海角社区官网on Tuesday morning.听
Richard Lautens 海角社区官网StarCity of Toronto
City manager Paul Johnson said he鈥檇 been receiving regular updates throughout the day, and Toronto鈥檚 office of emergency management was meeting early Tuesday afternoon to perform its latest assessment. He said projections of rainfall had increased significantly from when the city first started monitoring the storm Monday night.
鈥淲e’ve got roads closed. We’ve got trains that are bypassing certain stations. We have a lot of calls for service. I think people just need to be very careful when they’re out there on the roads,鈥 he said.
Johnson said severe rain events were occurring more frequently and while the city has been taking steps to mitigate their impact, Toronto鈥檚 infrastructure 鈥渨as not designed to handle this.鈥
鈥淩ight now, we’re just trying to make sure everybody’s safe, respond to the calls and the emergencies that we have. And then we’ll deal with the aftermath, as soon as the rain stops,” he said. 鈥 Ben Spurr听
Why is it raining so much?听
If Tuesday鈥檚 rainfall reaches the upper range of what Environment has predicted 鈥 the forecast says up to 125 millimetres 鈥 it would put the downpour on par with the worst the city has ever seen. That record was notched on July 9, 2013, when gauges at Pearson International Airport recorded 126 millimetres in a single day, breaking a record that had stood since 1954 when Hurricane Hazel caused extensive and fatal flooding.
The 2013 storm cost almost $1 billion in insured damages and remains Ontario鈥檚 most expensive weather disaster, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada; the city received more than 4,700 flooding complaints because of the storm. Just five years later, another significant rainfall event, in August 2018, resulted in a further $80 million in insured damages.
Both storms, at times, registered rainfall that would classify them as 鈥100 year storms鈥 鈥 ones so intense that they have a one per cent chance of occurring in any given year. Climate scientists have reported that global warming will increase rainfall extremes and intensify urban flooding, raising the chances of extreme events like this occurring. 鈥 Kate Allen
A pedestrian struggles to navigate the floodwaters at Lake Shore Boulevard at Rees Street in downtown 海角社区官网on Tuesday.听
Andrew Francis Wallace 海角社区官网Star听
Tips to drive safely during heavy rain
Driving in the听rain听and on wet surfaces can lower one鈥檚 visibility, putting vehicles at risk of skidding or hydroplaning and raising the chances of collisions in general. But there are simple ways to lower the risk for yourself and your loved ones.
Naureen Raziq, the director of communications and an instructor at Toronto鈥檚 Globe Driving Academy provided the Star with safe driving tips for those travelling in the rain.
Raziq says to plan out your route before heading out.听Make sure you know of the weather conditions at your destination and along your route, and plan accordingly. If it is raining, make sure to leave earlier as you can expect traffic conditions to be worse than usual.
No matter the weather conditions, drivers should always perform a circle check before heading out, Raziq explained. This means circling around the vehicle looking for any signs of damage or malfunction.
With rainstorms feeling more frequent and intense, we take a look at why some parts of 海角社区官网flood.听
With files from Kevin Jiang and Calvi Leon
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