Sudden downpour brings severe flooding, power outages
Police reported a car floating away, a person paddling a canoe down a roadway and a hydro line fire after a sudden downpour drenched Toronto on Wednesday afternoon.
Parts of the city were still recovering Wednesday night from several downed power lines and severe flooding.
The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority monitored flooding caused by the severe thunderstorms. Shortly after 4 p.m., the agency said that within a half-hour, about 65 millimetres of rain poured over the city of Toronto, Highway 400, Highway 401 and the Black Creek area. There was also heavy rainfall in North York.
“Parts of Toronto just received more rain this afternoon than in all of June and early July,” the TRCA tweeted.
Just before 6 p.m., Toronto Hydro said crews were making progress with restoring power across the city. Ongoing outages were still being experienced in pockets of the city throughout the evening.
Environment Canada had briefly warned of a tornado watch in effect before downgrading to a thunderstorm watch around 2:40 p.m. The thunderstorm watch ended around 3:40 p.m.
Police earlier reported severe flooding that stranded cars across the city and broke banks in the Black Creek neighbourhood. Severe flooding was spotted around Jane Street and Chalkfarm Drive, where cars were reportedly flooded and stalled.
Around Keele Street and Lawrence Avenue, police reported a car floating away as well as a person paddling a canoe along a roadway.