In 2013, Toronto was hit with a massive storm. In just 90 minutes, the city received 126 millimetres of rain.
Roads flooded, with drivers abandoning their cars, and stairs leading to subway stations became urban waterfalls. The Don Valley Parkway (DVP), the main north-south thoroughfare into the city, was closed as the adjacent Don River overran its banks, spilling onto the roadway. A GO Transit commuter train was stranded with 1,400 passengers on board. Nearly 300,000 residents were left without power.
And on Tuesday — 11 years and eight days after that historic flood — it’s déjà vu for the largest, most populous city in Canada.
This time, the rain started in the morning around 9 a.m., catching many commuters off guard. It eased up for a bit until another, much more potent storm system moved in less than an hour later, lasting until the afternoon. Shortly after, power outages began to pop up across the city.
Once again, images and videos inundated social media: Toronto’s Union Station was flooded, as was the DVP and city streets; GO Transit halted service temporarily; cars were abandoned.
A GO Train is stranded in flood water during a massive rain storm that hit Toronto in July 2013. (Winston Neutel/Canadian Press)
Following the 2013 flood, talk abounded about how Toronto needed to better adapt, as climate change was likely to make these heavy rain events more frequent and more severe. And while it’s too early to attribute Tuesday’s rainfall to climate change, by all appearances, the city still seems unprepared for a major rainfall event.
As greenhouse gases continue to be pumped into our atmosphere, the effects of climate change will continue to be felt across Canada and the world.
“Climate change is not going anywhere.… These events are going to continue to increase in frequency and severity,” said Kathryn Bakos, managing director of finance and resilience at the University of Waterloo’s Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation.
“As temperatures continue to rise, you’re going to have more moisture in the system. So with more moisture and energy, you’re going to have bigger storms, larger precipitation events, with more water coming down over shorter periods of time,” she said, “so storms are going to come down with even greater force.
“And that’s exactly what we’re seeing all across the GTA and across Canada, as well.”
Toronto’s Union Station flooding due to heavy rain
Union Station’s Bay Concourse Hall is dealing with flooding as a result of Tuesday’s torrential rainfall.
But it’s not just about climate change that’s exacerbating these events, she said.
“Climate change isn’t the only driver in the system. You’re seeing aging municipal infrastructure, infrastructure that never incorporated adaptation,” she said. “It’s also not taking the increase the influx of people. We have more people utilizing the infrastructure.”
Need for more natural habitat
It’s also the concrete jungle effect, she noted.
Over time, Toronto has removed natural infrastructure like wetlands, grasslands and forested areas, which act like natural sponges. Instead, concrete roadways, driveways and buildings stand in their place.
“The infrastructure that we have is designed really for the historical conditions, and these events have a very different nature,” Slobodan Simonovic, professor emeritus at Western University’s department of civil and environmental engineering told CBC News.
He said that pressure on governments and forethought into budgeting for these events is needed for the future.
Is Toronto’s infrastructure built to withstand intense rain? This expert says no
Slobodan Simonovic, professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering at Western University, says many cities in Canada are woefully behind when it comes to infrastructure that can withstand flash floods.
“Climate change is real,” said Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow on Tuesday during a press scrum. “We are expecting almost a doubling of the number of severe rain storm days in 15 years. So we have to redouble our efforts to have mitigating actions, because we have to do more prevention work.”
Chow also noted that the city has provided more incentives to homeowners to prevent flooding in homes.
She said the city has freed up $2 billion after the province uploaded the cost of the DVP and the Gardiner Expressway, which is being put toward Toronto’s aging transit system and roads. However, she noted the city is still $26 billion and more than 10 years behind in infrastructure work.
Bakos said the city has made some improvements.
“I think they’ve really recognized that they have a very big issue. Infrastructure improvements are being made, and I think they recognize that more needs to be done, as well.”
Yet it may be frustrating for commuters and residents who see the same areas flooded time and again, such as the DVP and Lake Shore Boulevard.
Lake Shore now overflowing into Lake Ontario – stranded cars farther up the road.<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/ONstorm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#ONstorm</a> <a href=”https://t.co/nl4X0wuAA5″>pic.twitter.com/nl4X0wuAA5</a>
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says that because the city was able to upload maintenance of the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway to the province, it can now add $2 billion of funding toward the TTC, roadways, hydro, sewage management and other infrastructure projects. However, Chow says the city is still $26 billion and over 10 years behind in infrastructure work.
Adaptation is the key, Bakos said.
“Every dollar that you put into place for adaptation, on average, saves $3 to $8 in cost avoidance over a 10-year period. So it’s a more cost-effective strategy to become resilient and adapt to these extreme weather events now, rather than waiting in the future.”
WINNIPEG – Police in Winnipeg say one person has died and three more were injured after a pickup truck smashed into a bus shelter on Portage Avenue during the morning commute.
Police say those injured are in stable condition in hospital.
It began after a Ford F150 truck hit a pedestrian and bus shelter on Portage Avenue near Bedson Street before 8 a.m.
Another vehicle, a power pole and a gas station were also damaged before the truck came to a stop.
The crash forced commuters to be rerouted and knocked out power in the area for more than a thousand Manitoba Hydro customers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
KAMLOOPS, B.C. – A 35-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder after his mother’s body was found near her Kamloops, B.C., home a year ago.
Mounties say 57-year-old Jo-Anne Donovan was found dead about a week after she had been reported missing.
RCMP says its serious crime unit launched an investigation after the body was found.
Police say they arrested Brandon Donovan on Friday after the BC Prosecution Service approved the charge.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets climbed to their best week of the year.
“It’s been almost a complete opposite or retracement of what we saw last week,” said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
While last week saw a “healthy” pullback on weaker economic data, this week investors appeared to be buying the dip and hoping the central bank “comes to the rescue,” said Petursson.
Next week, the U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut its key interest rate for the first time in several years after it significantly hiked it to fight inflation.
But the magnitude of that first cut has been the subject of debate, and the market appears split on whether the cut will be a quarter of a percentage point or a larger half-point reduction.
Petursson thinks it’s clear the smaller cut is coming. Economic data recently hasn’t been great, but it hasn’t been that bad either, he said — and inflation may have come down significantly, but it’s not defeated just yet.
“I think they’re going to be very steady,” he said, with one small cut at each of their three decisions scheduled for the rest of 2024, and more into 2025.
“I don’t think there’s a sense of urgency on the part of the Fed that they have to do something immediately.
A larger cut could also send the wrong message to the markets, added Petursson: that the Fed made a mistake in waiting this long to cut, or that it’s seeing concerning signs in the economy.
It would also be “counter to what they’ve signaled,” he said.
More important than the cut — other than the new tone it sets — will be what Fed chair Jerome Powell has to say, according to Petursson.
“That’s going to be more important than the size of the cut itself,” he said.
In Canada, where the central bank has already cut three times, Petursson expects two more before the year is through.
“Here, the labour situation is worse than what we see in the United States,” he said.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
