Toronto dodged the worst of the rain
Toronto officials were worried about highway closures and heavy damage from last week’s rainstorms, but as of Saturday it appeared the city had largely been spared.
After two days of downpours — tapering off to a light drizzle by Saturday — the city escaped with a few event cancellations and relatively minor flooding from swollen waterways.
A total of more than five centimetres of rain drenched the GTA between Thursday and Friday evening, according to Environment Canada.
Officials were prepared for worse. The city was ready to close the Don Valley Parkway amid concerns that it would flood as it did in 2013, when the banks of the Don River overflowed and other parts of the city saw flooding and major delays.
Mayor John Tory surveyed damage Saturday morning at Woodbine Beach, where already high water levels in Lake Ontario combined with wind and rain Friday to submerge a significant portion of the sand and volleyball courts.
Five Toronto beaches experienced flooding during the storm, the city said in a statement.
Residents of the Toronto Islands also experienced flooding that turned backyards into puddles. Ferry service to the islands remains restricted, with up-to-date information available on the City of Toronto website.
Lake Ontario has risen nearly 25 centimetres since May 1, according to data from Fisheries and Oceans Canada. So far, city staff have placed 4,000 sandbags on shorelines across Toronto and responded to more than 200 reports of basement flooding.
The soggy conditions prompted or- ganizers of Ashbridge’s Bay Beach Volleyball, which typically uses the courts at Woodbine Beach, to cancel the first games of the spring season Friday night. It wasn’t yet clear if games scheduled for the rest of the weekend would go ahead.
“Mother Nature won this battle,” the organization said via Twitter Friday.
Also cancelled were Friday night’s celebrations in Jurassic Park, where fans typically gather outside the Air Canada Centre to watch Raptors playoff games on TV, and the 2017 Manulife Paddle the Don canoe event.
In the end, the rain didn’t cause major transit problems, though it did lead to flight delays at Billy Bishop Airport and some cancellations at Pearson International. With files from The Canadian Press and Star staff