Parts of southern Ontario see more rain after Saturday storm | CBC News

Several southern Ontario communities saw more rain on Sunday and are now bracing for even more wet weather a day after a storm soaked the region and broke at least one precipitation record.

In Toronto, Environment Canada said the ground has little ability to absorb further rainfall after torrential downpours drenched the city on Saturday. Another 15 to 30 millimetres were forecast for Sunday evening.

The federal weather agency says the rain comes after Saturday’s downpour saw 128.3 millimetres fall at Toronto Pearson Airport.

That tops the 2013 record of 126 millimetres recorded at the airport, which is on tap for its rainiest summer ever.

Environment Canada Meteorologist Trudy Kidd said seasonal data isn’t always complete, but available numbers already make the outcome clear.

The previous record for summer rainfall stood at 396.2 millimetres, but Kidd says the airport has already seen 475.7 millimetres this season.

“It’s fair to say that this has been a record breaking season,” she said.

The weekend rain in the region is part of a larger storm system that wreaked havoc in southern Ontario on Saturday.

Climate change could bring more summer storms: expert 

People can expect more high-intensity, short duration storm events in the summer due to climate change, said Joanna Eyquem, director of climate resilience infrastructure at the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, based at the University of Waterloo.  

She said hot air holds more water, resulting in more rain. 

“Previously, we were mainly worried about flooding from snowmelt, rain on snow and when the ground is frozen,” Eyquem said. 

She said people may assume they won’t see flooding if they live outside of a flood plain. But if a city’s drainage system becomes overwhelmed, flooding is a risk. 

Learning how to deal with flooding, such as how to reduce the risk of water entering your house or reduce water damage if flooding occurs, can be helpful, Eyquem said. 

“It’s something we should be preparing for and not just at the municipal government level, but also at the homeowner level,” she said.

Travellers urged to monitor flight status

The rain triggered numerous road closures in the Toronto area and stranded several vehicles in deep water, Toronto police said.

Toronto Pearson Airport said on Sunday airlines were still recovering from Saturday’s storms, flights delayed and terminals bustling with carry over passengers from the day before.

The City of Toronto said Sunday that operations were largely running normally, but there was a spike in calls about basement flooding.

Rain wasn’t the only extreme weather to hit the region. A tornado touched down Saturday morning in the community of Ayr, Ont., about 115 kilometres southwest of Toronto.

Western University’s Northern Tornadoes Project confirmed the twister touched down around 11 a.m., bringing with it winds that reached 165 kilometres an hour.

The project’s executive director, David Sills, says his teams are still assessing the size of the storm.

“We’ve got trees down in every direction possible,” Sills said, but noted “this one was on the weak side.”

Robert Shantz, the fire chief and community emergency management co-ordinator for the township of North Dumfries, said two businesses were severely damaged by the tornado. 

Shantz said approximately 7,000 people live in the township. No one was injured, he said.

The movement of Tornado Alley toward the northeast could bring more tornadoes to southern Ontario, said Mark Robinson, a meteorologist and storm hunter for The Weather Network. 

Tornado Alley covers locations where tornadoes are more likely to occur, including Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, he said. 

Since southern Ontario has a high population density, Robinson said it’s very likely that any tornadoes in the region will interact with people. 

“I want to see these tornados out over empty fields, not going through towns and wrecking people’s lives,” he said. 

The showers and thunderstorms are forecast to taper off by Monday afternoon and become isolated showers.

Mississauga Fire rescued 30 people on Saturday: chief 

Mississauga fire crews rescued 22 people from the water Saturday, including stranded drivers and pedestrians, said Deryn Rizzi, the city’s chief of fire and emergency services. 

Eight people were rescued from elevators that stopped working due to power surges or water going through the elevator shaft, she said. 

“People out for a walk, people out driving, doing their normal, everyday activities were caught off-guard,” Rizzi said. “That’s where we came in to ensure their safety.” 

She said flooding is identified as one of the top five hazards in Mississauga every year. 

On Saturday, the City of Mississauga reported all creeks and rivers in the city were either at capacity or flooding into parks and greenspaces, with emergency crews rescuing stranded drivers and pedestrians due to the heavy water pooling.

In a news release issued Sunday, the city said it had received up to 138 millimetres of rainfall Saturday, though amounts varied across Mississauga.

“Flood waters have generally receded across the city; however, residents are encouraged to exercise caution around rivers, creeks and streams, as they are running high and the surrounding grounds are saturated,” the release said.

All roads are open as of Monday morning.

Helen Noehammer, the city’s director of works, operations and maintenance, said the worst flooding happened around Little Etobicoke Creek, which broke its banks and flooded roads in the area.

She said it’s too early to understand the damage from Saturday’s flooding as a damage assessment needs to be performed. 

However, Noehammer added the city is prepared to deal with storms and is working on infrastructure projects to absorb flooding in the future. 

“There are projects on all of our watersheds that are looking to build that resiliency and capacity,” said Noehammer. 

Rizzi said she thinks Ontario municipal leaders will discuss funding for flooding infrastructure when they meet at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference on Monday. 

“We can’t stress the importance enough that we need money to help build our infrastructure,” she said. 

Sports fields, meanwhile, will be closed until Monday, when they can be “reassessed,” after the heavy rain, according to the release.

The city said it has activated its incident management team and is “actively monitoring conditions and responding as the need arises,” adding that additional staff resources were brought in to respond to changing weather conditions Sunday.

As a result of the heavy rain this weekend, the 165th annual King’s Plate, Canada’s oldest horse race hosted by Woodbine Racetrack in Etobicoke, was also rescheduled. The race was set to begin Saturday, but heavy rains caused unsafe racing conditions, the racetrack said.