Flooding causes havoc in Toronto (With video and gallery)

TORONTO — A sudden and violent thunderstorm brought Toronto a standstill during Monday evening’s rush hour and police said a flood watch was in effect.

The Toronto Transit Commission shut down its entire subway network after the storm dumped 50 mm of rain on downtown Toronto and cut off the electricity connection to the system from the provincial utility, Hydro One.

The storm dumped 90 mm of rain on Pearson Airport, Environment Canada meteorologist Dave Rodgers said.

The flooding shut down the Don Valley Parkway, the city’s main north-south artery into downtown, and left commuters stranded in dark subway tunnels. The TTC struggled to get people home on its 1,800 buses and 250 streetcars.

Soggy commuters stumbled and sloshed through the sodden downtown, struggling to find their way home.

By 7:30 p.m. the TTC had restored service on some subway routes but not on the main subway line from Union Station.

Large parts of the city lost electrical power, including the CBC headquarters on King Street. By 7 p.m., Toronto Hydro was estimating about 300,000 customers were experiencing outages across the city.

A spokesperson said Toronto Hydro staff would be working through the night to restore power.

Further west along King abandoned passenger cars — whose air bags had apparently deployed — floated in a section of the street that drops under a railway trestle bridge.

The flooding stranded cars on highways and roadways, and the force of the flood water coursing through the sewers blew the lids off manholes on downtown streets.

Toronto Police said a flood watch is in effect, telling residents to stay away from bodies of water that can quickly become fast moving.

Motorists struggled to get around with traffic lights out at intersections and cars hydroplaning across flooded roadways. Honking filled the streets. In downtown, plumes of smoke billowed out of manholes.

Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto, pleaded with residents to stay home.

“I just want to ensure people that we have everything under control,” the mayor said. He blamed the flooding on years of overspending on frivolous projects and lack of attention to rebuilding the city’s infrastructure.

“We have to put a lot of money into the taxpayers’ reserve,” the mayor said. “For years and years and years it has been neglected.”

As for homeowners, he said, “Call your insurance company. You gotta take notes, video it.”

With files from Jake Edmiston

Subway passengers wait for shuttle buses on Yonge street at Dundas Square after a severe downpour flood multiple subway stations and the underground PATH that connects them in Toronto on Monday, July 8, 2013. (Tom Hicken for National Post)

People wade through flood water on Lakeshore West during a storm in Toronto on Monday, July 8, 2013. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn)

A woman walks through a sheets of rain in Toronto’s Didtillery District during a flash flood in Toronto, Monday July 8, 2013. (Peter J. Thompson/National Post)

Cars caught in flooding at King Street and Atlantic Avenue after a flash flood in Toronto, Monday July 8, 2013. [Peter J. Thompson/National Post]

Cars attempt to make their way south on the Don Valley Parkway in Toronto as rain ponds impeding their route, Monday July 8, 2013. [Peter J. Thompson/National Post]

Pedestrians walk across Toronto’s Queen Street during heavy rains, Monday July 8, 2013. [Peter J. Thompson/National Post]

A passerby lends a hand to passengers whose vehicle is submerged in flood water at at Dupont Avenue and Shaw Street during flash flooding in Toronto on Monday, July 8, 2013. (Michelle Siu for National Post)

A police officer surveys cars caught in flooding at King Street and Atlantic Avenue after a flash flood in Toronto, Monday July 8, 2013. [Peter J. Thompson/National Post]

Yoo Young pokes his head out of the window of his Hyundai Sonata as a kind passerby helps him out of the flood waters that submerged his vehicle during flash flooding in Toronto on Monday, July 8, 2013. (Michelle Siu for National Post)

A second vehicle is stuck in flood waters after a massive downpour floods the underpass at Dupont Avenue and Shaw Street in Toronto on Monday, July 8, 2013. (Michelle Siu for National Post)

Cars re-route after a massive downpour floods the underpass at Dupont Avenue and Shaw Street in Toronto on Monday, July 8, 2013. (Michelle Siu for National Post)

A tow truck driver floats a car out of the Don Valley Parkway in Toronto on Monday, July 8 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS

Seung Kim has a hand from a passerby after the Hyundai Sonata he was in was submerged in flood waters at Dupont Avenue and Shaw Street after flash flooding in Toronto on Monday, July 8, 2013. (Michelle Siu for National Post)

A pedestrian makes her way across Eastern Avenue during a downpour of rain in Toronto, Monday July 8, 2013. [Peter J. Thompson/National Post]