Storm floods city streets
Cars make their way through flooding on Stirling near Lorne Crescent in Kitchener Thursday afternoon.
WATERLOO REGION — A heavy but shortlived downpour caused flooding on local roads Thursday.
Environment Canada issued a thunderstorm watch around 3:30 p.m. that soon turned into a thunderstorm warning as the sky in downtown Kitchener quickly darkened.
Shortly after police and emergency crews were busy responding to calls of flooded basements, leaky ceilings and roads from Cambridge to St. Jacobs filled with water.
Construction cones went flying in and around downtown Kitchener and other light rail transit construction hot spots.
Cars stalled in the middle of busy roads like Fischer Hallman, Westmount and Stirling Avenue.
Some drivers were stuck in water as high as car bumpers, in places such as Warren Drive and Greenbrook Drive, around St. Mary’s General Hospital and Fairview Park Mall in Kitchener to name just a few.
Other drivers were grounded by water that rushed over car hoods, like in the area of Ottawa Street and Homer Watson Boulevard.
Main Street in downtown Galt also filled up with water. Despite nearly an hour of torrential rain that flooded roads, police say there weren’t any serious collisions.
Waterloo Regional Police also said there wasn’t any significant damage reported to them from around the region, just a few briefly closed roads and intersections that were reopened by about 7 p.m. Thursday.
Environment Canada meteorologist Rob Kuhn tweeted that the area around his Stanley Park home got nearly 50 millimetres of
rain during the 45-minute downpour.
The weather agency said it was tracking a cluster of severe thunderstorms on Thursday.
The thunderstorm watch was officially over by 6:35 p.m. as storms moved out of the region, just in time to welcome clear sunny skies on Friday.
Environment Canada says Waterloo Region should expect a high of 26 C with a humidex of about 30 C on Friday.
Saturday will usher in warmer weather again with an expected high of 28 C and lots of sun with a few cloudy periods and a 30 per cent chance of showers.