Toronto fire crews responded to more than 1,000 calls after destructive storm, mayor says
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- The Greater Toronto Area is cleaning up a day after a heavy thunderstorm damaged buildings, closed roads and knocked out power.
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Toronto Fire Services responded to "just shy of" 1,500 calls in a 24-hour period, the second-highest volume in the department's history, fire Chief Jim Jessop said.
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- Toronto Hydro says about 6,000 customers remain without power in the city, down from a peak of 65,000.
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run by the province's Crown-owned power supplier, Hydro One, shows more than 40,000 customers outside Toronto without power.
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- Several major roads remain closed, including the Gardiner Expressway and Bayview Avenue.
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The Don Valley Parkway has reopened.
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- In Vaughan, Ont., Huntington Road is closed indefinitely because of a large sinkhole.
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Toronto Hydro working through damage
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About 65,000 Toronto Hydro customers had lost power at the storm's peak; that figure is now down to about 6,000, said Dan Smart, Toronto Hydro's vice-president of distribution operations.
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In addition to public safety, the utility is prioritizing the safety of its workers who are repairing extensive damage caused by large trees and branches.
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Smart said he has heard reports of trees eight feet in diameter resting on lines and taking down poles.
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"We do have a really, really high volume of calls that we are still working our way through," he said as he asked for the public's patience.
Smart advised anyone encountering downed wires to stay 10 metres back and report them through the Toronto Hydro dispatch line at 416-542-8000.
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Northbound DVP lanes reopened
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The northbound Don Valley Parkway lanes have now been reopened, the City of Toronto said, about an hour after southbound lanes were cleared for driving.
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The highway had been closed since last night, when the Don River caused severe flooding.
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"Crews are still performing cleanup operations to restore service to the Southbound DVP ramp to northbound Bayview Avenue," the city said in an update.
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Toronto firefighters rescued people who were trapped on collapsed scaffolding, inside elevators, in water and from partially collapsed buildings, fire Chief Jim Jessop said.
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He said, in all, Toronto Fire Services responded to "just shy of" 1,500 calls in a 24-hour period, the second-highest volume in the department's history after the 2013 ice storm.
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Firefighters worked in co-ordination with paramedics, police and hydro workers amid the flurry of 911 calls — which at one point rose to 400 active calls, Jessop said.
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He said the "unsung heroes" were the dispatchers taking and fielding those calls.
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"Those are the heroes behind the scenes who co-ordinated the entire emergency services responses seamlessly, collaboratively and co-operatively," Jessop said.
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"The very fact that we have not had any major, significant injuries or fatalities shows that the system worked."
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A '100-year storm'
This storm was unique because of how much rain fell across this much of Toronto, said city manager Paul Johnson.
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The amount ranged from 11 millimetres to 110 millimetres, but wide areas got large amounts of it.
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The storm track started in the Willowdale neighbourhood, moving southeast through Don Mills and exiting through the Scarborough-Guildwood area, with those neighbourhoods each receiving 100 to 110 millimetres of rain.
"That's what we would declare as a 100-year storm," he said, which refers to a severe rainfall event that has a one per cent — or one in 100 — chance of occurring in any one year.
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The city began preparing for the storm on Monday, said Johnson, adding that level of preparation led to the city's quick response last evening.
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He compared yesterday's storm to the one in 2005, which brought tornadoes to southern Ontario and major storms to Toronto.
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The city did serious work on flood mitigation and protection for residents after that event, he said, which is why there were much fewer calls about basement flooding this time around.
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"I'm pleased to say that those have been working," said Johnson.
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Fire services responded to 1,000 calls:
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Chow says city crews were prepared when Wednesday's storm hit.
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She said Toronto Fire Services responded to more than 1,000 calls — its second-highest number in a single day — and rescued people from flooded roads.
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The mayor thanked public servants who worked through difficult conditions, noting that TTC drivers worked to get passengers home safely while 311 operators handled an "overwhelming number of calls."
"The storm has passed and I want to assure the people of Toronto: we were prepared, our teams were co-ordinated and we will keep working until every road is clear and every resident has power back," Chow said.
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Chow said the city's solidarity in the midst of the storm showed "how caring, safe and strong Toronto is when we come together and work together."
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"We look out for one another, checking in on a neighbour, watching for someone vulnerable, lending a hand."
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- Hanna Lee
A fallen tree destroyed this Toronto resident's backyard
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Toronto resident Noah Peck Williamson's backyard was damaged by the storm when a bolt of lightning struck a tree, causing it to fall and crush most of the furniture outdoors.
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"It was quite shocking, to be honest," he told CBC's Metro Morning.
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He says he was on his way home as it happened, "paddling" on his electric bike through flooded roads when his roommate called him.
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Williamson compared the downpour in Toronto to 1999, when the mayor called in the military to help dig the city out, after it was hit by several monster snowstorms.
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