Vehicles drive through flood water along Yonge St. in midtown Toronto during a storm on Wednesday.John Chidley-Hill/The Canadian Press
Thousands across the Greater Toronto Area and parts of Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe remain without power after a severe storm flooded streets, knocked down trees and utility lines.
Toronto Hydro reported early Thursday that roughly 8,300 homes and businesses were still in the dark, while provincial power supplier Hydro One, said more than 47,000 customers remained offline.
Localized flooding forced the closure of some major roadways, including parts of Yonge Street and the Don Valley Parkway, and suspended subway service in some areas during the Wednesday afternoon rush hour.
Toronto officials said they received roughly 1,000 requests for service and have deployed crews to deal with storm-related issues.
“City crews have been clearing debris and sediment and sweeping roadways since flood waters began receding overnight,” the city said on its website.
“Closures will remain in place until cleanup operations are complete and the roadways are determined to be safe for reopening.”
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow was set to give an update on the city’s cleanup efforts Thursday morning, with more information expected throughout the day.
The intense weather 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 pummelled neighbourhoods further north.
Video on social media showed large hail falling and downpours flooding vehicles and bus stations, sending people running for cover.
A downed tree and power line is seen in Toronto during a storm.Keito Newman/The Canadian Press
David Sills, director of the Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University, said there was “no credible evidence” at this stage that a tornado occurred as part of Wednesday’s storms, but the organization continues to receive reports and analyze them.
A survey team was heading Thursday for the community of Brodhagen, in the municipality of West Perth, where the worst damage appeared to have occurred, Sills said.
“The team will have a lot of area to cover in the next couple of days,” he said in an e-mail.
The storm also caused flight delays and cancellations at Toronto’s Pearson airport, and left some serious damage to Rogers Stadium, a 50,000-capacity music venue in the city’s north end.
The airport said operations were “returning to normal” Thursday morning but encouraged travellers to check with their airline as some flight schedules were affected by the storm. Pearson received about 40 millimetres of rain during the storm, it said.