Cleanup efforts are underway across the Greater Toronto Area after Wednesday’s severe thunderstorm that left debris scattered, roadways flooded and residents without power.
According to Toronto police, officers received about 300 calls reporting downed power lines within the last 24 hours.
In an update Thursday morning, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow thanked city crews and first responders for their swift response.
Chow said Toronto fire responded to over 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.”
WATCH | Storm chaser and Weather Network meteorologist talks about Wednesday’s storm:
Ontario storms produced ‘tremendous amount of lightning’: storm chaser
Mark Robinson, a meteorologist and storm chaser with The Weather Network, says the hail, high winds and lightning from Wednesday’s storms in southern Ontario show just how much energy they produced.
Chow also said the Don Valley Parkway (DVP), which had closed due to flooding, is “now re-opening.”
The DVP southbound lanes reopened Thursday morning after being closed 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.
The northbound DVP is still closed between the Jarvis off-ramp and the Royal Drive and Bloor on-ramp.
TTC service should be running as scheduled and city camps are all operating on normal hours, and the CNE is also open, 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 Toronto’s Pearson airport, though operations are returning to normal.
The elements battered Rogers Stadium, a 50,000-capacity music venue in the city’s north end.
Live Nation said no one was injured and they are assessing the extent of the damage.
WATCH | Rogers Stadium damaged in storm Wednesday:
Rogers Stadium seriously damaged by GTA storm
The storm left some serious damage to Rogers Stadium, a 50,000-capacity music venue in the city’s north end. Live Nation said no one was injured and they are assessing the extent of the damage.Toronto got close to ‘a month’s worth of rain’ in one day: climatologist
Paul Johnson, Toronto city manager, said every weather event is different, but Wednesday’s storm was particularly destructive.
“The water simply overwhelms the systems we have in place when it’s a 100-year storm event,” he said.
Johnson said the city’s outdoor pools were in “recovery mode” Wednesday morning due to debris and sediment from the storm.
Wading pools and most outdoor pools have reopened, the city said in the afternoon, and crews are working on opening the remaining ones.
David Phillips, a climatologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said Wednesday was the wettest Sept. 2 Toronto has ever seen. Downtown Toronto saw about 60 millimetres of rain, he said, and some unofficial measuring vessels collected over 100 millimetres.
“That’s almost a month’s worth of rain,” said Phillips.
Phillips said while thunderstorms have been around forever, climate change is making them more severe.
“[It’s] almost as if this is a preview of what will be normal in 30 years from now,” he said. “Gully washers, heavy rainfalls.”
PHOTOS | Scenes from Wednesday night’s storm:
Toronto Fire Chief Jim Jessop also provided an update on how crews responded to nearly 1,500 calls over a 24-hour period.
“That is the second-largest call volume day in the history of Toronto Fire Service, just shy of the ice storm numbers in 2013,” he said.
Jessop said paramedics, police and fire responded to structure fires and rescues, including workers trapped on scaffolding, people stuck in elevators, and “partial building collapses.”
Overall on Wednesday there were 5,030 calls to 911, according to Toronto police.
Peak of storm saw 65,000 in city without power
There are still widespread power outages Thursday that crews are working to restore, according to Toronto Hydro.
Speaking at Thursday’s news conference, Toronto Hydro executive Dan Smart said about 6,000 customers are without power, down from around 65,000 at the peak of the storm.
The province’s power supplier, Hydro One, said Thursday more than 40,000 customers remained offline.
WATCH | Cleanup underway after massive storm:
Trees downed, many without power after thunderstorms sweep through southern Ontario
Major highways across southern Ontario remain flooded and tens of thousands are without power after storms brought torrential downpours, high winds and hail Wednesday night.
Power was restored Wednesday afternoon for those affected by an outage in Vaughan, according to power company Alectra Utilities, but crews are also working to restore power to about 393 homes and businesses in Keinburg, Ont. and to 778 customers in Markaham, Ont.
Flood conditions are making it more difficult to complete restoration, the company said in a statement to CBC News.
Several roads still remain closed on Thursday as cleanup operations continue, according to a news release from the city of Toronto.
The Gardiner Expressway eastbound and the northbound DVP are fully closed from Jarvis to the Royal Drive and Bloor on-ramp. Bayview Avenue is closed from Pottery Road to Lawren Harris Square.
Vehicle access to Toronto’s High Park is blocked due to a fallen tree, the city says.
In Vaughan, Huntington Road between Rutherford Road and Trade Valley Drive is closed indefinitely due to a large sinkhole, York police say. They are warning residents to avoid the area.
WATCH | Sinkhole appears in Vaughan, Ont. after Wednesday storm:
Dramatic video shows major sinkhole in Vaughan, Ont. following storm
In Vaughan, Huntington Road is closed indefinitely because of a large sinkhole caused by Wednesday’s severe storm.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the province is in contact with the municipalities affected by the storm.
“We stand ready to help wherever is needed,” he wrote in a social media post Thursday.
Storm brought destruction, disruptions to events and service
The intense weather Wednesday brought torrential rain, large hail and the risk of a tornado to wide swaths of southern Ontario as skies darkened over downtown Toronto and hail slammed neighbourhoods further north.
Video on social media showed large hail falling and downpours flooding vehicles and bus stations, sending people running for cover.
After reporting flooding in its emergency department Wednesday evening, Micheal Garron Hospital says it worked overnight to contain the flood and clean impacted areas. The emergency department is open and operating, officials say.
The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) will open at 10 a.m. Thursday after closing early Wednesday evening because of the severe weather, organizers told CBC Toronto.