No significant rainfall is expected for the rest of Tuesday, the City of Toronto said in a news release Tuesday afternoon.
The city said it received more than 700 calls to 311 about basement flooding.
Photojournalists across Toronto captured dramatic images of rescues and swamped cars as the city came to a standstill in flood-prone areas.
The Don Valley Parkway (DVP) — which runs alongside the overflowing Don River in the city’s east end — is blocked in both directions due to flooding. Municipalities across the GTA have also warned residents to avoid flooded areas.
Crews were seen on Tuesday night cleaning mud off the roadway.
Toronto Fire said they rescued 12 people from flooding on the DVP, including one person who was plucked from their car’s roof.
Crews have responded to an extremely high number of calls related to flooding and elevator entrapments, Toronto Fire said.
Onlookers take in the spectacle of flooded and abandoned vehicles on the Don Valley Parkway after a major rain squall caused the Don River to burst its banks on July 16, 2024. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Up to 110 millimetres of rain was expected to fall on Tuesday, with rainfall rates of 40 mm/h possible at some points, Environment Canada said.
“Heavy downpours can cause flash floods and water pooling on roads. Localized flooding in low-lying areas is possible. Watch for possible washouts near rivers, creeks and culverts,” the rainfall warning said.
The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) issued a flood warning on Tuesday afternoon, saying that the total rainfall expected could create “hazardous conditions” near bodies of water, including slippery and unstable river banks.
Were you affected by flooding or power outages in Toronto? Share your photos, videos and stories with us by emailing ask@cbc.ca.
All shorelines, rivers and streams in the GTA should be considered dangerous as heavy rainfall could result in higher flows, erosion and rapidly changing water levels, the (TRCA) said.
“Please exercise caution if you must be around any bodies of water, rivers or streams as well as the Lake Ontario shoreline,” the TRCA said.
Toronto Fire responded to more than 500 emergency incidents amid flooding
A torrential downpour flooded Toronto and surrounding areas on Tuesday, causing power outages and leaving drivers stranded on major roadways. According to the Deputy Chief of Toronto Fire Services, during the height of the storm, the department received approximately two to three times more calls for emergency services than normal.
Late Tuesday evening, the Toronto District School Board said at least 20 schools were without power and some schools may have been affected by flooding.
The board said parents, guardians and caregivers of students attending a summer school program, camp, or child care program in a TDSB school on Wednesday will hear directly from the program operator in the morning should there be any change to operations. More information is available on the TDSB website.
‘Storm on top of storm’ dumped rain
David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said the system that brought the rainfall was “unique” from a meteorological perspective.
It was actually a series of separate storms that consecutively drenched the GTA, but particularly the city of Toronto, Phillips said.
“There was a line of storms from London to the west part of Toronto that lined up like a parade, like jumbo jets on the airport tarmac. And there was storm on top of storm coming in one after the other, dropping their load of precipitation,” he told CBC News Network.
Union Station flooded following torrential downpours in southern Ontario
A severe storm has led to flooded streets in Toronto and transit disruptions, including at Union Station. CBC’s Lisa Xing has the latest on how the storm is affecting commuters across the city.
About 98 millimetres of rainfall was recorded at Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, while roughly 84 millimetres fell in the downtown core of Toronto within a few hours, according to Environment Canada.
“It was the intensity. We saw 30 millimetres of rain in 30 minutes. That rivals what you would see in a jungle kind of situation,” Phillips said.
It has already been an unusually wet spring and summer in much of the GTA. From April 1 until yesterday, the region was drenched in roughly 166 per cent of the rainfall it would typically see in that same period, Phillips said.
“The ground is saturated and river courses are full,” he added.
“This is the new reality. It used to be river flooding, now it is urban flooding … So you end up with power outages, you end up with intersections flooded, roads flooded. It is not a surprise to see Toronto like it is.”
Mayor urges people to be careful amid flooding
Speaking on Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Olivia Chow said the city is “massively investing in the state of repair so that there is less flooding going forward.”
“Please be safe. Don’t drive on flooded roads and stay away from streams, rivers [and] shorelines,” she said.
The city’s wastewater facilities have not been affected by the storm, Chow said.
Asked why the Don Valley Parkway wasn’t closed earlier to drivers to prevent cars from driving through flooding roadways, Chow said she doesn’t know.
David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, says he’s not surprised by the amount of rain that has hit Toronto recently as the country deals with a new reality of extreme weather.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, speaking from the premiers’ meeting in Halifax, said he will reach out to Chow to find out what the city might need as it recovers from the storm.
“Thank God everyone’s OK,” Ford said.
The relentless downpours caused significant flooding in some parts of the city, especially in low-lying areas close to Lake Ontario.
Near the corner of King Street W. and Atlantic Avenue W., a stretch road historically prone to flash flooding, abandoned heavy construction machinery and a pickup truck were seen half submerged in water.
Several inches of water also accumulated in areas of Union Station, the city’s biggest transit hub, with water from inside cascading down exterior staircases.
TTC trains did not stop at Union for hours. Staff “actively” pumped water out of the station, the city said.
The City of Toronto is warning people to stay away from Lake Shore Boulevard W., particularly between Parkside and Ontario drives due to flooding.
Entire GTA hit by rain system
Peel police warned drivers that downpours were causing manhole covers to lift out of place. They urged drivers to be cautious and use the full headlight system on their vehicles.
Toronto Pearson International Airport said a section of Convair Drive, near the airport in Mississauga, was closed due to flooding. However, there was no flooding at the airport. Some departures and arrivals were reported to be delayed.
People travelling to Pearson are advised to map out their route to avoid any road closures and give themselves extra time to arrive safely, the airport said.
Tuesday was the fifth wettest day ever recorded at Pearson, with the airport recording 97.8 millimetres of rain. The severe storm also broke the previous record for daily rainfall on July 16, 1941, when 25.9 millimetres of rain fell at the airport.
CBC Toronto meteorologist Colette Kennedy explains what led to such severe flooding in parts of the GTA on Tuesday.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland finished 54 holes of the wind-delayed Shriners Children’s Open knowing he’ll have his best chance at winning since brain surgery more than a year ago. Best of all Saturday was being finished.
Woodland had three birdies over his final six holes and extended his bogey-free streak to 28 holes in polishing off a 6-under 65 that gave him a share of the clubhouse lead with Las Vegas resident Kurt Kitayama, who also had a 65.
They trailed J.T. Poston and Doug Ghim by one shot when play was suspended by darkness. Thirty of the 66 players who made the cut earlier Saturday did not finish.
Poston had an eagle during his closing stretch of the second round for a 65, and his only sub-par hole in the third round was an eagle on the par-5 ninth. It put him at 15-under par through 13 holes. Also at 15 under was Ghim, who had four straight birdies and was facing a five-foot par putt on the 17th hole when it was too dark to continue.
Woodland had surgery in September 2023 to remove a lesion on his brain, situated on a tract that caused fear and anxiety. It’s been a long road back of making progress with his health, getting dialed in on the right medication and trying to get his game in order.
He also went back to Randy Smith, the PGA Hall of Fame swing coach in Dallas. Now Woodland is sensing the pieces coming back together.
“I feel a lot better for one,” Woodland said. “That’s a huge help. But I’ve seen some signs. I’ve been back with Randy Smith for a couple months now. I am starting to drive it better, iron play, controlling the golf ball like I haven’t in a long time, which is nice. Then putts start going in, start putting some good scores up.
“I’m excited and happy to be here — and really happy to finish tonight so I can get some sleep tomorrow.”
The third round was to resume at 8 a.m., and Woodland likely will start around 11 a.m. That beats getting up before dawn, which he already has had to do twice this week.
Next to be determined is where he stands.
Harris English and Alejandro Tosti of Argentina also were at 14 under with four holes to play, including the reachable par 4 and the easiest of the three par 5s. Six other players were at 13 under and still had holes to play.
Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., only completed 13 holes on Saturday and sits two shots back of the leaders. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., is tied for 44th at 5 under. Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., is tied for 61st at 3 under.
The wind has calmed substantially from Friday, when gusts approached 50 miles per hour and led to a four-hour delay that caused the stop-and-start and the last two days being suspended because of darkness. A TPC Summerlin course that was all about hanging on is now back to being a test of who can make the most birdies.
“Conditions will be pretty easy. I think you saw that with some of the scores,” Poston said. “Guys are making birdies. So I think it’s just trying to stay aggressive but also stay patient if the putts don’t fall early because there is a lot of holes left.”
The second round didn’t end until about noon Saturday and the cut was at 3-under 139. Among those who missed was Tom Kim, the two-time defending champion who was trying to become the first player since Steve Stricker at the John Deere Classic (2009-11) to win the same PGA Tour event three straight years.
Also missing the cut were the three winners in the FedEx Cup Fall — Patton Kizzire, Kevin Yu and Matt McCarty.
TORONTO – Simple Plan is getting the documentary treatment.
The Canadian pop-punk band will be the subject of a forthcoming documentary on Prime Video, which is slated to debut sometime next year.
Lead singer Pierre Bouvier announced the partnership on stage at the When We Were Young music festival in Las Vegas on Saturday.
The untitled film from director Didier Charette is currently in production with Sphere Media.
The movie will follow Simple Plan’s formation in Montreal in the late 1990s and the band’s early success, featuring never-before-seen archival footage and fresh interviews with the musicians and their contemporaries.
Simple Plan is the latest in a series of Canadian musicians to be profiled on Prime Video, after “I Am: Celine Dion” in June and “The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal,” which premièred at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2024.
The world’s final glimpse of Hamas’ leader was rough and raw, showing him wounded and cornered as he sat in a bombed-out Palestinian home and faced down the Israeli drone filming him, hurling a stick at it.
For Israel, the scene was one of victory, showing Yahya Sinwar, the architect of Oct. 7, broken and defeated.
But many in the Arab and Muslim world — whether supporters of Hamas or not — saw something different in the grainy footage: a defiant martyr who died fighting to the end.
Clips from the released drone footage went viral on social media, accompanied by quotes from Sinwar’s speeches in which he declared that he would rather die on the battlefield. An oil painting of a masked Sinwar sitting proudly on an armchair was widely shared, apparently inspired by the last image of him alive.
“By broadcasting the last minutes of the life of Yahya Sinwar, the occupation made his life longer than the lives of his killers,” Osama Gaweesh, an Egyptian media personality and journalist, wrote on social media.
In Gaza, reactions to Sinwar’s death were mixed. Some mourned his killing, while others expressed relief and hope that it could bring an end to the devastating war triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel that he is said to have directed. Across the Arab and Muslim world, and away from the devastation in Gaza, opinions varied.
One thing, though, was clear. The footage was hailed by supporters and even some critics as evidence of a man killed in confrontation who at least wasn’t hidden in a tunnel surrounded by hostages as Israel has said he was for much of the last year.
Three days after he was killed, Israel’s military dropped leaflets in south Gaza, showing another image of Sinwar lying dead on a chair, with his finger cut and blood running down his forehead. “Sinwar destroyed your lives. He hid in a dark hole and was liquidated while escaping fearfully,” the leaflet said.
“I don’t think there is a Palestinian leader of the first rank who died in a confrontation (like Sinwar), according to what the leaked Israeli version shows,” said Sadeq Abu Amer, head of the Palestinian Dialogue Group, an Istanbul-based think tank.
Sinwar’s demise was different
Unlike Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in his hotel room in Iran, or the leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group Hassan Nasrallah, bombed in an underground bunker by dozens of massive munitions, Sinwar was killed while apparently fighting Israeli forces, more than a year after the war began.
Iran, the Shiite powerhouse and a main backer of Hamas, went further. It contrasted Sinwar’s death with that of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Tehran’s archenemy.
In a statement by Iran’s U.N. Mission, it said Saddam appeared disheveled out of an underground hole, dragged by U.S. forces while “he begged them not to kill him despite being armed.” Sinwar, on the other hand, was killed in the open while “facing the enemy,” Iran said.
In a strongly worded statement, the Cairo-based Al-Azhar, the highest seat of Sunni Muslim learning in the world, blasted Israel’s portrayal of Sinwar as a terrorist. Without naming Sinwar, the statement said that the “martyrs of the resistance” died defending their land and their cause.
In Israel, the army’s Arabic-speaking spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, described Sinwar as “defeated, outcast, and persecuted.” Many celebrated the news of the killing of the architect of the Oct. 7 attack.
Video posted online showed a lifeguard on a Tel Aviv beach announcing the news to applause, while Israeli media showed soldiers handing out sweets. Residents of Sderot, a town that was attacked by Hamas militants, were filmed dancing on the streets, some wrapped in Israeli flags. On Telegram, some shared pictures of a dead Sinwar, likening him to a rat.
But there were also protests from families of hostages and their supporters who want Israeli leaders to use the moment to bring the hostages home.
Some are energized, not demoralized
Susan Abulhawa, one of the most widely read Palestinian authors, said the images released by Israel were a source of pride. Israel “thought that publishing footage of Sinwar’s last moments would demoralize us, make us feel defeat,” she wrote on X. “In reality, the footage immortalizes Sinwar and galvanizes all of us to have courage and resolve until the last moment.”
In the Palestinian territories and Lebanon, some remembered him with respect, while others expressed anger.
“He died as a fighter, as a martyr,” said Somaia Mohtasib, a Palestinian displaced from Gaza City.
For Saleh Shonnar, a resident of north Gaza now displaced to the center, tens of thousands of Palestinians were killed. “Hundreds, tens of senior leaders were martyred and replaced with new leaders.”
In Khan Younis, Sinwar’s birthplace, mourners in a bombed-out mosque recited the funeral prayer for a Muslim when the body is missing. Israel has kept Sinwar’s body. Dozens of men and children took part in the prayers.
And in Wadi al-Zayne, a town in Lebanon’s Chouf region with a significant Palestinian population, Bilal Farhat said that Sinwar’s death made him a symbol of heroic resistance.
“He died fighting on the front line. It gives him some sort of mystical hero aura,” Farhat said.
Some Palestinians took to X to criticize Sinwar and dismiss his death in comparison to their own suffering. One speaker on a recorded discussion said there is no way of telling how he died. Another blamed him for 18 years of suffering, calling him a “crazy man” who started a war he couldn’t win. “If he is dear, we had many more dear ones killed,” one yelled.
In the long run, the think tank’s Abu Amer said that the effect of the support and empathy for Sinwar after his death is unlikely to change the Arab public’s view of Oct. 7 and what followed.
“Those who supported Oct. 7 will continue to, and those who opposed Oct. 7 — and they are many — will keep their opinions, even if they show sympathy or admiration for him. Most Palestinians are now focused on ending the war,” he said.
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Fatma Khaled reported from Cairo. Julia Frankel and Ibrahim Hazboun in Jerusalem, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut, and Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, contributed to this report .
