Residents in Toronto are sloshing through the aftermath of a heavy rain storm that caused flash flooding in portions of the city, submerging several vehicles and forcing road closures.
Environment Canada issued a special weather statement ahead of the summer storm, warning of the potential for 50 to 100 millimetres of rain Tuesday evening.
READ MORE: Heavy rain causes widespread flooding, power outages in Toronto
According to a preliminary weather summary issued by Environment Canada on Wednesday after 12:30 a.m., the heaviest rain hit Highways 400 and 401, the area near Allen Road, the downtown core and the Toronto Islands.
The weather agency said approximately 50 to 75 millimetres of rain fell in the span of two to three hours across the area. Localized areas may have experienced higher amounts of rainfall. At the peak of the storm, nearly 16,000 customers were without power, according to Toronto Hydro.
Police and fire crews responded to several calls of submerged vehicles while two men had to be rescued from an elevator in a commercial building in the city’s north end.
READ MORE: Flooding haunts homeowners for years, study finds
Toronto police said two people called 911 after 10:50 p.m. to report that they were trapped in an elevator in the basement as water began to fill it.
WATCH: Toronto resident says basement a ‘total loss’ following flooding
“As the water was rising very, very quickly, they only had about a foot of airspace left inside the elevator and it was completely closed, so officers pried the elevator open and rescued the two men,” spokesperson Katrina Arrogante told Global News.
She said the officers had to find a crowbar and swim through the basement to access the elevator.
WATCH: Storm brings power outages, flooding to parts of Toronto
Photos from around the city show the extent of the flooding and its aftermath. Take a look.
SEVERE WEATHER | Toronto floods
Must see: How and why Toronto got so swamped, so fast
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Caroline Floyd
Meteorologist
Wednesday, August 8, 2018, 3:15 PM - Downtown Toronto was in the wrong place at the wrong time Tuesday night, as a slow-moving area of tropical moisture-fueled rain showers absolutely drenched the city. Radar estimates indicate that some spots received more than 100 mm in less than 3 hours, causing extensive flooding over parts of the downtown core. Didn't see any rain last night? You're not alone -- the heaviest rain was concentrated over a very small area, and that made the difference between seeing more than 70 mm of rain, or 2, over a distance that's probably shorter than your morning commute.
We take a look at some of the amazing images from the event, as well as the cause, below.
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WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS:
Radar indicates heaviest rainfall amounts were locally greater than 120 mm
Heaviest rain fell from North York, near the 400/401 interchange, then south across Downtown Toronto to Toronto Island
Heavy rain was verylocalized; Pearson recorded only 6 mm, Buttonville only 2.4 mm
WATCH BELOW: RADAR IMAGES SHOW THE SLOW-MOVING CLUSTER OF STORMS DRENCHING THE CITY
WHAT HAPPENED?
Storms developed around 7:30 pm Tuesday evening, when a lingering afternoon lake breeze off of Lake Ontario butted up against a gradually southward-moving boundary from the northeast, which was likely the lake breeze generated by Georgian Bay. This created a local boundary with enhanced lift right along the 401 corridor north of the city, which in turn teamed up with significant tropical moisture in the atmosphere to unleash a deluge that drifted very slowly south as the storm motion overcame the dying lake breeze -- right over the downtown core.
The result was widespread flash flooding, as rain quickly overwhelmed drainage systems and flooded underpasses, roads, and, in some cases, buildings. Toronto Police services responded to numerous rescue calls through the night, including one case of two men being trapped in a rapidly-filling elevator.
Flooding rescue: Alliance Ave / Rockcliffe Blvd
-2 people stuck in an elevator in a bsmt building
-water was 6 ft high inside
-Police rescue 2 men with only 1 foot of air space left
-injuries reported, non life threatening
-TFS/EMS on scene#GO1452695
^ka — Toronto Police OPS (@TPSOperations) August 8, 2018
Flooding: Wilson Ave / Dubray Ave
-flooding under the bridge
-3 vehs stuck, occupants out of vehs
-TFS /Police on scene
-Eastbound on Keele and Westbound at Dufferin closed#GO1451476
^ka — Toronto Police OPS (@TPSOperations) August 8, 2018
Tonight’s storm and heavy rains are driving high call volumes for @Toronto_Fire crews tonight. At present, our crews are managing 50 concurrent incidents. Please be safe and alert as you move around the city - lots of standing water on the roads. Current CAD view screenshot. pic.twitter.com/aWGXROB5j1 — Matthew Pegg (@ChiefPeggTFS) August 8, 2018
Another round of rain moving in from the south delayed the drainage of standing waters in some places Wednesday morning. Toronto traffic camerasstill showed water covering some roads by the start of morning rush hour. Fortunately the heaviest of this latest batch of rain moved over the Niagara Peninsula, rather than over the city itself. Isolated showers and thunderstorms are again possible across the region Wednesday afternoon.
Below are some of the remarkable images and videos that emerged from Tuesday night's flash flooding event.
Two cars almost completely submerged on Simcoe just south of Front #onstorm @weathernetwork pic.twitter.com/NEXGzjIbqF — Kelly Sonnenburg TWN (@kellysonnenburg) August 8, 2018
Toronto Flooding - As water starts to subside we can finally see the 3 vehicles in the underpass at Wilson Ave near Keele St. #onstorm pic.twitter.com/k8J0VZFZq2 — Tony Smyth (@LateNightCam) August 8, 2018
A friend sent me this video of Scotiabank Arena (Formally known as Air Canada Centre/ACC) flooding tonight. This happened after the Shakira concert. @CP24 #ONStorm pic.twitter.com/YZ91tKUv4F — Kris Pangilinan (@KrisReports) August 8, 2018
WATCH BELOW: 'WATER WAS UP TO HERE': MAN, COPS SPEAK ABOUT HEROIC ELEVATOR RESCUE IN TORONTO FLOODS
Heavy rain battered Toronto Tuesday evening, washing out roadways, causing heavy flooding in the downtown core and trapping two men in an elevator that was rapidly filling with water.
Environment Canada had issued a special weather statement for the city earlier in the evening, saying between 50 and 100 millimetres of rain was expected in some locations, particularly near the lakeshore.
Fire hydrant ruptured in the storm tonight and I basically had to swim home at King/Atlantic. Streetcar is stuck in over a foot of water! #toronto @CityNews @CP24 @blogto pic.twitter.com/qLluipWDA6 —@victoria_pike
The federal agency said more than 64 millimetres of rain had fallen at Billy Bishop Airport in just two hours.
'Only one foot of air space left'
The two men who had to be rescued from an elevator were stuck in a basement in the city's north end.
Police media relations officer Katrina Arrogante said water had almost filled the elevator before the men were rescued by officers who had to swim down to the basement to get them out.
"The water level has rose to six feet and there was only one foot of air space left for the two males to breathe," she said, adding that the men were able to keep their heads above water by standing on handrails inside the elevator.
Heavy rain in Toronto tonight.....Epic Lounge at #RoyalYork Hotel in Toronto. Epic leak I would say. @CP24 pic.twitter.com/f2QASjcOmx —@cmcsweeney66
"The two officers answering the call then found a crowbar and swam into the basement location of the commercial building, pried open the elevator and rescued the two males that were stuck inside," Arrogante told The Canadian Press.
She said one man suffered a hand injury but did not require hospitalization and neither of the responding officers was injured.
Arrogante said the initial call came in at 10:52 p.m. ET and police were on the scene quickly.
Toronto Blue Jays fans get stuck in the Rogers Centre as the entrance to the parking garage floods with torrential rain. (Fred Thornhill/Canadian Press)
"The officers responded at 10:58, so all within six minutes we were there and able to rescue the two men," she said.
"It's actually quite an amazing story and we're just happy everything turned out in a positive manner."
Rain fills underpasses
The rain filled several underpasses, including one in north-end Toronto near Keele Street and Wilson Avenue that left three cars completely submerged.
Four cars were also trapped by rising water at a downtown underpass at Lower Simcoe Street and Bremner Boulevard, and the police marine unit was called in to rescue the occupants. There were no injuries reported at either incident.
Weather-related calls also flooded emergency lines with less serious calls, leading police to ask that callers use 911 only for emergencies.
The deluge caused problems at Toronto city hall. A staffer tweeted that the roof outside Mayor John Tory's office was leaking so badly that staff ran out of recycling bins and garbage cans to contain the water.
The roof outside the Mayor’s office is leaking so badly that City Hall facilities staff have run out of readily available recycling bins and garbage cans to contain the water. pic.twitter.com/54yLWpyQNh —@aathanasiu
Meanwhile, a power supply issue from Hydro One caused customers in the area of Steeles Avenue south to Sheppard Avenue, and from Islington Avenue to Dufferin Street, to lose power.
Thousands lost power
Hydro One confirmed there was an outage at their Finch Transmission Station and that they were making repairs to damaged equipment, allowing Toronto Hydro to restore power to customers.
Toronto Hydro said that 16,000 customers in North York were without power at the height of the storm but have since had their service restored. The utility company also said it dispatched crews to other areas of the city to investigate other weather-related outages.
Pluies diluviennes au centre-ville de #Toronto qui causent des débordements du réseau de canalisations sur Queen’s Quay. #yyzweather pic.twitter.com/HFVk7TaW0G —@mathieusimard
Other issues caused by the rain:
Metrolinx said that the rain caused UP Express service to shut down because of flooding near Weston Station.
Flooding near Downsview held up Barrie GO Transit service.
The city closed the Bay West Teamway at Union Station.
Environment Canada's special weather statement was lifted just before 11:30 p.m. as the heaviest showers moved out over Lake Ontario.
Dozens of homes, cars and public structures were seriously damaged in Toronto last night when an entire month's worth of rain hit the city over just two hours of an intense storm.
Came out of 2 hours of great live music at #ShakiraToronto to this flood🙃 just outside of the #ScotiabankArena on Bay St. (My fav part is everyone’s surprised reactions as they exit the venue in the bg😂) @blogto #onstorm #toronto pic.twitter.com/rPK7YbloWZ — is (@isabelcontin) August 8, 2018
Environment Canada issued a special weather statement on Tuesday night around 9:50 p.m. warning of "heavy showers" in downtown Toronto, particularly near the waterfront.
It was a nightmare scene for this #Toronto driver last night who had to abandon their car and swim for safety #stormTO #Toronto #torontoflood https://t.co/u1wgkVrW3v pic.twitter.com/nmSZVlGjrz — blogTO (@blogTO) August 8, 2018
By 11 p.m., the federal weather agency reported that 64.3 mm of rain had fallen at Billy Bishop Airport — just a little bit more than the average local rainfall for the entire month of July. Other parts of the city are said to have received closer to 20 mm.
The localized weather system moved out over Lake Ontario around midnight, but not before turning the city's downtown core into a waterlogged, dangerous mess.
Flash floods turned roads like Front Street, Lake Shore Boulevard and even King Street West into rivers faster than cars could manage to get out.
Just when you think you’ve had enough time in a boat this weekend, now you can boat in downtown Toronto too! #StormTO pic.twitter.com/P3tM1mfsjm — Morgan Todd (@mogtodd) August 8, 2018
Public transit services were shut down on account of, well, look at Union Station:
Union Station last night. Much better today I understand but please be careful wherever you’re walking especially on platforms. pic.twitter.com/eL0TupJ8re — Anne Marie Aikins (@femwriter) August 8, 2018
Streetcars and buses had a particularly rough time getting through the surprise waterways under highly-trafficked overpasses like those at Queen and Dufferin.
And near King and Atlantic.
11:05pm, king looking west just past sudbury. theres a car to the left of the streetcar you cant even see. absolute madness. #onstorm pic.twitter.com/Aho42vfevI — charlie randall (@earthisanocean) August 8, 2018
A ruptured fire hydrant in the latter location saw some streetcars almost go underwater, with customers reporting they "basically had to swim home."
Picture via Reddit of a super soggy new streetcar in the King Street underpass at Atlantic. pic.twitter.com/5iuGgkTpHz — I'll be Frank w/ you (@syncros) August 8, 2018
Condos from Fort York all the way up to Queen West were evacuated on account of rising waters in hallways...
Oh look, my condo has a new swimming pool. #stormTO pic.twitter.com/Jw0A2ZFim2 — Pedro Marques (@MetroManTO) August 8, 2018
Lobbies...
And parking garages...
People who had been attending the Shakira concert at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena got soaked on their way home from the venue.
In some cases, they got soaked inside the venue, too.
A friend sent me this video of Scotiabank Arena (Formally known as Air Canada Centre/ACC) flooding tonight. This happened after the Shakira concert. @CP24 #ONStorm pic.twitter.com/YZ91tKUv4F — Kris Pangilinan (@KrisReports) August 8, 2018
Blue Jays fans were no luckier.
It was like a scene out of an apocalypse last night when fans tried to cross the street after the Jays game at the Rogers Centre #Toronto #torontoflood https://t.co/Rt90YsyLEP pic.twitter.com/lDh574cxmn — blogTO (@blogTO) August 8, 2018
Toronto Police say that marine unit officers had to rescue the occupants of at least four cars near Lower Simcoe Street and Bremner Boulevard. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
This aerial view of the driving conditions at Bathurst and Lakeshore last night during the #stormTO is something else #Toronto #Torontoflood https://t.co/ZmlIlQblmM pic.twitter.com/jzYbi4g9IQ — blogTO (@blogTO) August 8, 2018
The rain has slowed down significantly, but some parts of the city remain dangerously (or at least uncomfortably) water-logged.
Storms could return to Toronto on Wednesday afternoon and evening, according to Environment Canada, though not nearly as much water is expected.
Toronto Hydro continues to restore power to areas of the city affected by outages, and warns anyone with a flooded basement to "please remember that electricity and water don't mix."
