Toronto is recovering from sudden downpour that caused severe flooding in several parts of city

Thestar.com
July 9, 2020
Jacob Lorinc and Margaryta Ignatenko

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 rainfall poured over the city of Toronto, Highway 400, Highway 401, the Black Creek area, and some heavy rainfall within 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.

“Crews are focused on safety emergencies first including downed wires and trees on wires,” Toronto Hydro tweeted.

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.

A fire caused by downed trees and hydro wires broke out in the area of Bethnal Avenue and Ballacaine Drive in Etobicoke at around 4:30 p.m. There were no injuries, according to police.

An hour earlier, police reported that in the Black Creek area the water broke banks in several places with flooding expected in the area of Weston Road and Humber Boulevard within the next half- hour. Police said townhouses in the area may need to be evacuated.

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.

The sudden downpour comes after an extraordinarily dry period, and six consecutive days of soaring temperatures over 30 C.