Canada – Torrential Rain and Floods Hit Toronto

by in Americas, News

Over 70 mm of rain fell in just 2 hours in Toronto, Canada, during the evening of Tuesday, 07 August, 2018, causing power outages, disrupting public transport and flooding basements and streets.

Images on Social Media showed vehicles stranded in flood water over 1 metre deep. Toronto Police said teams were called on to rescue to at least 13 vehicles stuck in water throughout the city.

Police also rescued 2 people who were stuck in a flooded elevator in a basement building. Police said water in the elevator was 6 feet deep and the men had only 1 foot of air space left. The victims suffered non life threatening injuries.

Environment Canada said that 72.3 mm of rain was recorded at Billy Bishop airport between 21:00 and 23:00. Meanwhile Toronto Pearson Airport recorded just 6 mm of rain and Buttonville Airport 2.4 mm.

“According to weather radar, the heaviest rain extended from North York near Highway 400 and 401 to near Allen Road then south across downtown Toronto to Toronto Island. Weather radar measurements show a 50 to 75 mm rainfall in 2 to 3 hours across this area,” said Environment Canada.

“Note that most other areas across Toronto received much less than 20 mm of rain, thus showing the very localized nature of the heavy showers.”

Shannon Bradbury from The Weather Network said on Wednesday that there was “very localized flooding yesterday in Toronto. In just a few hours radar estimates indicate >120mm of rain fell. People were trapped in elevators when the power cut, basements/buildings quickly became flooded and vehicles submerged in waterlogged streets.”

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