Posts
Record
rains cause heavy flooding in Toronto area
Unofficial report from Pearson Airport of 123mm of rain so far today making it the wettest day EVER recorded.
Toronto’s
subway lines, as well as numerous traffic lights and street lights
went out across the city during a massive thunderstorm
8
July, 2013
Environment
Canada said some parts of the GTA had been drenched with more than
100 millimetres of rain, trouncing the previous one-day rainfall
record of 29.2 mm in 2008 for Toronto and even beating the 74.4 mm
monthly average for July.
Water
from flash flooding poured out of sewer drains while Toronto’s
downtown core was dotted with abandoned vehicles, some sitting in
water up to their windows. One woman, sporting a T-shirt and shorts,
dove head-first through the window of her marooned car before wading
away in the thigh-deep currents.
Mayor
Rob Ford encouraged people to stay inside their homes where possible,
except to check on the vulnerable, elderly, or those who may not be
able to cope on their own.
He
said the city is taking an “all hands on deck” approach to
dealing with the “serious situation” caused by the first round of
storms. He said civic officials are bracing for the second round now
nearing the western end of the GTA.
He
asked Toronto residents not to call 911 unless it’s a dire
emergency because the line is getting overwhelmed. He urged people to
contact 311 for information updates.
Toronto
Hydro reported approximately 300,000 customers were without power
across Toronto as of 7:30 p.m. Monday.
Milly
Bernal, a spokeswoman for the Toronto Transit Commission said that
some stations are flooded and some are operating with emergency
lights.
Ms.
Bernal said Yonge-University-Spadina line is closed from Downsview
station to St. Clair, St. Andrew to Bloor, and from Lawrence to
Finch. The Bloor line has been shut down from Jane to Kipling, and
the entire Sheppard line is out of service.
Porter
Airlines has cancelled all Toronto flights for the rest of the day
because of the storm and power outages at the airport. The airline
tweeted that passengers will be accommodated on flights tomorrow, and
that high call volumes are causing longer than average wait times at
their call centre.
Between
30 and 40 millimetres of rain had fallen by 6:15 p.m. with another 10
to 15 expected this evening, Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong said,
based on reports from the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority.
“We
are receiving significant reports of basement flooding,” Councillor
Minnan-Wong said. Underpasses in the downtown are also flooded, he
said.
Road
closures include the Don Valley Parkway between Bloor Street and the
Gardiner and Allen Road northbound at Eglinton, he said.
Mobile
phone and text service was down for numerous Rogers and Fido
customers in the region Monday night, making it difficult for many
caught in the storm to reach loved ones. Rogers spokesperson Patricia
Trott confirmed that the service interruption was related to the
severe weather battering the area, but could not confirm the number
of people affected by the outage. "We apologize to our customers
and are working to fix the problem as soon as possible," she
said. Mobilicity customers also reported outages.
Pockets
of the downtown core were also rife with gridlock, as many
intersections, including in the Queen-Bathurst area, had no police on
hand to direct traffic.
Small,
street-level retail businesses, many lacking the backup power
afforded by larger companies, faced some of the worst consequences of
the outages.
Jeff
Caires, owner of the Tequila Bookworm restaurant and bar at Queen
Street West and Portland Street, said he hadn't seen rain so bad in
the more than seven years he'd been at the location.
"I've
never seen anything like this," Mr. Caires said. While the
basement wasn't flooded, he said the shop's backyard was.
While
some power was restored in the area at about 7:30 p.m., there were
still some stretches affected further west downtown, including on
Queen Street near Trinity Bellwoods Park. The park's off-leash "dog
bowl" section, located near a ravine, had turned into a
veritable lake with water nearly a foot deep in some places.
"We're
currently facing significant system issues," said Andrea Corkum,
a Hydro spokesperson. "There are so many outages everywhere."
All
of Toronto Hydro's crews are currently out making repairs and they
will likely work throughout the night, focusing on the largest
outages first, according to Ms. Corkum.
GO
Transit spokeswoman Vanessa Thomas said that flooding on train tracks
is affecting trains between Toronto Union Station and Richmond Hill.
TTC
chair Karen Stintz posted a photo on Twitter showing ankle-deep water
in Queen's Park subway station saying "thank you for your
patience. TTC is working hard."
Reached
late Tuesday night Councillor Doug Ford said he directed traffic for
four hours in Etobicoke. "Absolutely," he said in a
message. "Everyone was helping."
Unofficial report from Pearson Airport of 123mm of rain so far today making it the wettest day EVER recorded.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.