Severe Flash Flood Causes Widespread Power Outage in Toronto

Flash floods and heavy rains hit Canada’s biggest city, Toronto, leaving roughly 170,000 people without electricity and stranding citizens. Roads were also submerged.

Toronto typically receives around 100 millimeters of rain throughout the month of July, which is almost the amount that fell on the city on Tuesday.

Approximately 3.5 hours of precipitation saw 97.4 millimeters of deluge. From 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Toronto Fire Service responded to over 500 incidents, received approximately 1,700 cries for aid, and rescued over 20 individuals from vehicles and structures. About 167,000 people were left without electricity on Tuesday, and a few of the city’s main highways and roadways were closed.

Drake, a rapper from Toronto, showed his house inundated by brown water that was ankle-deep in an Instagram Story he published. Social media posts depicted water gushing down subway stairs, rescue personnel in boats, and flooded automobiles on backed-up roadways. City Hall in Toronto flooded, and climate change is predicted to cause a dramatic rise in the frequency of rainstorms in the city in the years to come.

Flash floods caused power outages, traffic jams, and airline service cuts in portions of Toronto, Canada’s financial hub. According to Toronto Hydro, the local power distribution business, transmission station flooding was the likely source of the dispersed outages. Roughly 123,000 consumers were still without electricity as of 3 p.m.

Despite being the city’s primary rail terminus, trains were reportedly avoiding Union Station, according to the Toronto Transit Commission. The floods have caused minor difficulties, according to Go Transit, which runs rail service to and from the suburbs of Toronto.

Around noon, the rain ceased, and the weather outlook for the remainder of Tuesday is partly overcast, according to Environment Canada. While the floods did not impact emergency services, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow did mention that portions of City Hall were submerged in water during a televised briefing.