Torontonians are faced with a snarled morning commute today and widespread power outages after an evening of traffic chaos caused by torrential rainfall.
Hydro One said that of about 300,000 people affected, only about 30,000-40,000 had their power restored as of midnight ET due to "significant flooding" at two of its transmission stations.
Toronto Hydro said about 20,000 of its customers were still without electricity as of about 9:30 a.m., primarily in the west end of the city. The utility could not say when it expected full power to be restored.
The CBC's meteorologist Jay Scotland said a heavy downpour had been forecast, but the rain was "unprecedented" with 126 millimetres falling across Toronto — most falling during the evening commute.
"That even topped Hurricane Hazel's one day rainfall total going back to 1954," said Scotland, noting that the amount that fell then was 121.4 millimetres.
About 1,400 people were caught by the flooding aboard a northbound GO Transit train, and it took police and firefighters about seven hours to ferry everyone to dry ground aboard small inflatable boats.
The operation ended at about 12:30 a.m. Authorities said five or six people were treated at the scene for minor injuries. Go Transit said the storm left portions of track "completely under water" on its Milton, Richmond Hill and Lakeshore West lines and suggested passengers seek alternative ways to travel Tuesday morning.
This morning, a commuter reported that shuttle buses were being used on the Lakeshore West GO Train line between Port Credit and Long Branch to move passengers past a flooded area.
Toronto police Const. Wendy Drummond said she's never seen a flooding incident this severe in the city, but emergency crews were prepared to respond.
"Somebody looking at the scene may not understand everything that is happening, but rest assured that efforts, emergency response efforts, have been in the planning stages from the very onset," she said.
'When you think about what happened just 12 hours ago, it could have been better but I think it could have been a whole lot worse.'—Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong
Two people attempted to flee by jumping out the train and swimming to shore. Rescuers had to pluck one of them from the murky water.
'Tremendously concerned'
The rain left underpasses and many basements flooded and a number of people trapped in vehicles — some with water up to their vehicle windows.
George Newman was driving to his friend's 80th birthday party under the heavy downpour when his car became submerged. "The water was up to my stomach in the car and the power just shut off," Newman said. "There were men going into the cars to get us out and lift a few of the people that couldn't get out."
Speaking on Metro Morning on Tuesday, Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong, who heads the city's Public Works and Infrastructure Committee said he was "tremendously concerned" about the impact of the storm.
"If you have Hurricane Hazel having happening every couple years we're going to be a lot more trouble than we ever imagined," said Minnan-Wong.
Electrical issues on traffic cameras made tracking troublesome areas difficult for city officials, but Minnan-Wong said identifying improvements would part of the coming days. He praised all those involved in the rescue and cleanup efforts.
"When you think about what happened just 12 hours ago, it could have been better, but I think it could have been a whole lot worse," said Minnan-Wong.
"If you don't pay attention to it, these storms are going to have a lot of damage to a lot of city infrastructure and particularly to a lot of families throughout this city who are waking up to flooded basements."
TTC delays
Toronto Transit Commission Chair Karen Stintz recommended the public move slow and steady today, treating it as a "summer snow day."
"If you can somehow avoid the commute, please do. Big cleanup in progress," Stintz tweeted.
Extra TTC staff were on site this morning at Jane station in the city's west end, where a major stretch of the east-west subway line was shut down due to heavy flooding at Kipling station.
Public transit users wait for shuttle buses at Jane Station in Toronto's west end. A section of the subway line was closed because of severe flooding at one of the stations. (Trevor Dunn, CBC) As many as 70 buses were going back and forth between Jane and Kipling, helping to move the thousands of commuters who use the line every day.
The CBC's Trevor Dunn said Jane station was busy, with some confusion, but that shuttle buses were running continually.
The TTC worked through the night to repair the damage at Kipling, but there was simply too much water in the underground station.
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