Many described the event as something they would see in a hurricane...pictures and video show the extent of the flooding in Toronto’s downtown. Major roads like the Don Valley Parkway closed and vehicles abandoned, some even submerged. More than a dozen people had to be rescued. In other locations, people wade through ankle-deep water at Union Station, Toronto’s major transit hub. Many stores inside Union Station were also flooded.
Mayor Olivia Chow says the severity of the rainfall was surprising, but the cleanup is underway.
"And I do want to talk a bit about climate change is real. We are expecting sort of doubling the number of severe rainstorm days in fifteen years. So we have to redouble our efforts to have mitigating actions and because we have to do more prevention work."
Toronto was hit by three thunderstorms in three hours, bringing 25% more rainfall in that time than the city would normally get in July. The storm also surpassed the previous July 16 rainfall record, documented in 1941.
Some experts say Toronto’s infrastructure cannot withstand this kind of intense rain. These types of events will become more likely in the future increasing in frequency and severity, all attributed to climate change.