Heavy downpour in Toronto floods highways, knocks out power

(Bloomberg) — Heavy rainfall in Toronto flooded highways, shuttered parts of the subway and knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of residents on Tuesday.

Canada’s largest city experienced its worst single-day rainfall in 11 years, said Brett Anderson, a meteorologist with commercial-forecaster AccuWeather Inc. There were reports of 75 to 110 millimeters of water (3 to 4 inches) across the area in less than four hours, “which is very serious,” he said.

Earlier, Environment and Climate Change Canada warned that as much as 125 millimeters could fall, more than the city received in all of July last year.

Video posted on social media showed commuters wading through ankle-high water at Toronto’s bustling Union Station. Outside, water cascaded down the steps and surged from a nearby storm sewer as torrential rain and thunderstorms swept the area.

Other videos showed cars submerged in downtown Toronto and at a standstill on Lake Shore Boulevard, the major artery that runs alongside Lake Ontario.

The rainfall washed out highway lanes including the Don Valley Parkway — one of the country’s busiest freeways — while shuttering subway stations and bus routes. Subway service was suspended in much of the downtown area and the Gardiner Expressway, the main artery out of the area, was deserted.

Toronto Hydro was responding to widespread outages throughout the city. There were about 127,000 customers affected by outages as of 2:48 p.m., according to the utility’s power failure website. Other utilities reported outages in suburbs surrounding Toronto.

Underground paths that connect portions of the city’s financial district were also shuttered as rain water leaked through doorways and ceilings.

On the social media platform X, Toronto’s Pearson airport said it recorded 26 millimeters of rain in a 10 minute-span. Just before 2 p.m., the rain appeared to be stopping downtown and the sun appeared.

Mayor Olivia Chow said the city will review prevention mechanisms for major weather events following the downpour. “For too long, we have not fixed our aging infrastructure like the Gardiner Expressway,” she said.

The storm was part of a larger system that touched off tornado warnings in Chicago and a derecho across the U.S. Midwest. A derecho is a band of destructive winds and thunderstorms that can cover hundreds of miles and do considerable damage.

Meanwhile there is an enhanced risk of severe thunderstorms, which can bring high winds and hail, across Upstate New York including Buffalo and Syracuse. New York City may also see thunder later Tuesday, the U.S. National Weather Service said.

–With assistance from Geoffrey Morgan.

(Updates with meteorologist comment in paragraphs 2,3)

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