A severe storm has caused significant disruptions in southern Ontario, leaving thousands without power and forcing major road closures. According to Toronto Hydro and Hydro One, around 55,300 customers remain offline, with over 8,300 homes and businesses still in the dark. The storm brought torrential rain, large hail, and a risk of tornadoes to the area, with some damage reported at Pearson airport and Rogers Stadium. A survey team is being sent to Brodhagen to assess the worst damage from the storm.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-03,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
September 3, a destructive storm swept across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), causing widespread damage and power outages. The storm dumped over 100 mm of rain in some areas, knocking down trees, utility lines, and leaving tens of thousands without power. Toronto Hydro reported that about 65,000 customers lost power at the storm's peak, but this number has since decreased to around 6,000. Hydro One, a provincial power supplier, reported over 47,000 customers remain offline outside of Toronto. The city's roads were severely affected, with several major routes closed, including the Gardiner Expressway and Bayview Avenue. Toronto Fire Services responded to an unprecedented 1,500 calls in a 24-hour period, second only to the 2013 ice storm. The city's officials have promised to work tirelessly until every road is clear and every resident has power back.
Written for “Storms Hit Southern Ontario” on 2026-09-03,
grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 3648 · logged 2026-09-03
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.
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storm → remain → trees
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.
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customers → report → dark
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.
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they → force → issues
“City crews have been clearing debris and sediment and sweeping roadways since flood waters began receding overnight,” the city said on its website.
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city → clear → website
“Closures will remain in place until cleanup operations are complete and the roadways are determined to be safe for reopening.”
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roadways → remain → 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.
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information → set → 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.
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hail → bring → neighbourhoods
Video on social media showed large hail falling and downpours flooding vehicles and bus stations, sending people running for cover.
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downpours → show → cover
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.
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organization → say → 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.
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he → head → 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.
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storm → cause → 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.
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schedules → say → storm
Pearson received about 40 millimetres of rain during the storm, it said.
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it → receive → storm
