Cleanup activities are ongoing throughout the Greater Toronto Area following Wednesday’s powerful thunderstorm that left debris strewn about, roads inundated, and many residents without electricity.
The severe weather on Wednesday brought heavy rain, large hail, and a tornado warning to many areas in southern Ontario as dark clouds rolled over downtown Toronto and hail battered neighborhoods further north.
Videos shared on social media displayed large hailstones falling and torrential rains flooding cars and bus stations, prompting people to seek shelter.
Toronto police reported receiving around 300 calls regarding downed power lines in the past 24 hours.
In a morning update on Thursday, Mayor Olivia Chow expressed her gratitude to city crews and first responders for their quick action. Chow mentioned that Toronto fire responded to more than 1,000 calls related to the storm.
“The storm has passed, and I want to assure the people of Toronto we were prepared,” she said. “We will keep working until every road is cleared and every resident has power back.”
Chow also noted that the Don Valley Parkway (DVP), which had been closed due to flooding, is “now re-opening.”
The southbound lanes of the DVP reopened Thursday morning after being shut down from flooding on the roadway, according to the city’s website. The Bay, Don Roadway, Eastern, Queen, Dundas and Bayview Avenue on-ramps remain closed.
WATCH | 2 workers hang on as scaffold swings in Wednesday storm:
Video shows 2 workers escaping moving scaffold during thunderstorm
Dramatic video captures two workers escaping a moving scaffold on a building in Toronto’s Yorkville neighborhood during Wednesday’s storm
The northbound DVP is still closed between the Jarvis off-ramp and the Royal Drive and Bloor on-ramp.
TTC service should be running normally and city camps are all operating at regular hours; even the CNE is open again according to Chow.
“We are all looking forward to the long weekend ahead,” she said. “Our crews will be working hard this week to get our parks, pools, public beaches safe and ready for you to enjoy.”
The storm also caused flight delays and cancellations at Pearson airport in Toronto; however operations are gradually returning back to normal.
The elements severely impacted Rogers Stadium, a music venue with a capacity of 50,000 located in the city’s north end.
Live Nation stated that no one was hurt while they assess how much damage was done.
WATCH | Rogers Stadium damaged in storm Wednesday:
Rogers Stadium seriously damaged by GTA storm
The storm inflicted serious damage upon Rogers Stadium; Live Nation confirmed there were no injuries while they evaluate what needs fixing.
A once-in-a-century storm event: climatologist
Paul Johnson, city manager for Toronto mentioned that each weather event is unique but emphasized that Wednesday’s storm was especially damaging.
“The water simply overwhelms the systems we have in place when it’s a 100-year storm event,” he said.
Johnson added that outdoor pools across the city were in “recovery mode” early Wednesday morning because of debris stirred up by the storm.
Wading pools along with most outdoor pools reopened later in the afternoon as city teams worked diligently on getting others ready too.
David Phillips from Environment Canada noted that September 2nd marked Toronto’s wettest day ever recorded. He pointed out downtown received about 60 millimeters of rain while some unofficial measurements indicated over 100 millimeters fell.
“That’s almost a month’s worth of rain,” said Phillips. p >
Phillips remarked how thunderstorms have always existed but climate change seems to be intensifying them. p >
“[It’s] almost as if this is a preview of what will be normal in 30 years from now,” he explained. “Gully washers , heavy rainfalls.” p >PHOTOS | Scenes from Wednesday night’s storm:
Toronto Fire Chief Jim Jessop provided an overview stating crews responded swiftly with nearly 1 ,500 calls coming through within just twenty-four hours.
“ That marks our second-highest call volume day ever recorded by Toronto Fire Service , only trailing behind numbers seen during ice storms back in two thousand thirteen,” he noted. p >
Jessop detailed how paramedics , police officers , and firefighters handled structure fires along with rescues involving individuals trapped inside elevators or scaffolding plus instances leading toward “partial building collapses.” p >
Overall figures indicate there were five thousand thirty emergency calls made through nine-one-one during this particular Tuesday. p >
A peak moment left sixty-five thousand customers without power h2> As cleanup efforts continue into Thursday widespread outages persist affecting numerous households per updates shared by officials representing Hydro One. P >
An email sent out revealed approximately fifty-seven hundred customers still remain powerless as late evening rolled around yet numbers had dropped significantly from near sixty-five thousand total earlier throughout storms’ peak intensity. P >
Power supplier Hydro One reported similar trends showing roughly fifteen thousand clients remain offline based off assessments conducted around five o’clock yesterday ; areas hardest hit include locations such as Dundas , Clinton & Beachville Onto., according online correspondence received after inquiries made
WATCH | Cleanup underway after massive storm:
Trees downed, many without power after thunderstorms sweep through southern Ontario P >Major highways throughout southern Ontario remain submerged while tens-of-thousands struggle with loss-of-power following fierce tempests delivering torrential rainfall coupled alongside strong winds & hail late into yesterday evening
Power restoration efforts proceeded effectively restoring service quickly post-storm arrival allowing affected regions including Vaughan, Mississauga, Kleinburg & Markham regain access relatively fast according Alectra Utilities report issued detailing remaining pockets needing attention till close-out occurred at six pm last night. Flood conditions hindered complete recoveries making things tricky however companies like Alectra provided statements accordingly updating citizens regularly
Multiple routes still find themselves obstructed come Thursday morning hindering clean-up attempts initiated via news releases stemming directly from City Hall
Current closures involve Gardiner Expressway eastward followed by northbound DVP utterly shut off beginning Jarvis extending onto Royal Drive & Bloor ramp access points. Bayview Ave blocked starting Pottery Rd onward towards Lawren Harris Square. Vehicle entry routes accessing High Park completely halted since fallen trees now lie across main thoroughfares. In Vaughan specifically Huntington Rd remains indefinitely barricaded pending inspection revealing large sinkhole appearing due newly created complications resulting back towards extreme weather conditions present prior days actions prompted local law enforcement agencies advising caution here onwards. WATCH | Sinkhole appears in Vaughan Ont., after Wednesday storms:
Dramatic video shows major sinkhole emerge Vaughan, Ont. following recent tempestuous weather phenomena.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford assured constituents his government maintains active communication lines opened with municipalities affected addressing any necessary assistance required promptly afterwards.
