Thunderstorms brought torrential rain and flash floods in Toronto, Canada’s largest city, on Tuesday, stranding residents, flooding streets and leaving nearly 170,000 customers without power.
More than 100 millimeters of rain fell in parts of Toronto on Tuesday, according to local officials said. That’s about the average rainfall the city receives for the entire month of July. At Toronto’s Pearson Airport, 97.4 millimeters fell in about 3.5 hours, the airport said said on social media.
The Toronto Fire Department said It rescued more than 20 people from cars and buildings, received nearly 1,700 calls for help and attended to more than 500 incidents between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Tuesday. About 167,000 customers lost power, the city of Toronto said in a statement opinionand some of the city’s main streets and highways were closed.
One affected Toronto resident was rapper Drake, who posted a video on his Instagram Story Tuesday night that appeared to show his home flooded ankle-deep with brown water. Drake’s 50,000 square meter mansion is in Bridle Path, an affluent area of North York.
Photos and videos on social media appeared to show flooded cars on clogged streets, rescue workers in boats and water pouring down subway steps.
Olivia Chow, the city’s mayor, said at a news conference Tuesday that parts of the Toronto City Hall building had been flooded. The number of rainy days in the city is expected to increase significantly in the coming years due to climate change, she added.
“We really need to get serious about climate change because days like this are going to become much more common,” she said.
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