A massive storm hit Toronto on September 2, 2026, triggering widespread flooding and power outages. While the Don Valley Parkway reopened on Thursday, several other major roads remained shut for cleanup.
The Gardiner and Bayview Extension bottleneck
While all lanes of the Don Valley Parkway reopened on September 3 between Bloor Street and the Gardiner Expressway, other critical arteries remained impassable. According to the report, the Gardiner Expressway remained closed from York Street to the DVP, and the Bayview Extension stayed shut between Pottery Road and River Street.
The scale of the disruption forced the city to keep various streets closed until crews could remove sediment and debris. The TTC reported significant road delays in the northweest, specifically impacting commuters along Finch, Keele, Sheppard, Wilson, and Dufferin.
43.3 millimetres of rain and the 'north-system' anomaly
Meteorologist Bill Coulter confirmed that Toronto Pearson recorded 43.3 millimetres of rain on Wednesday, which represents more than half of a typical month's rainfall in just a few hours. this event is part of a growing trend of extreme weather volatility that challenges urban drainage systems designed for more predictable patterns.
The storm was particularly rare because the system originated from the north, avoiding the usual interactions with the Niagara Escarpment. As reported by the source, this trajectory created ripples ahead of a cold front that repeatedly ignited a tropical air mass, leading to Environment Canada issuing a red alert and warnings of ping-pong-ball-sized hail.
Knee-high water at the Lower Simcoe underpass
The storm's intensity led to life-threatening conditions in low-lying areas, requiring emergency rescues across the GTA. At the Lower Simcoe Street underpass, police officers had to wade through knee-high water to save drivers from submerged vehicles.
Similar chaos unfolded in Vaughan near Bowes and Rivermede Roads, where an industrial area was described as becoming a river, trapping trucks and transit buses. In Mississauga, Peel police reported vehicles stuck in a flooded underpass near Southdown and Bromsgrove Roads, highlighting a systemic vulnerability in the region's underpass infrastructure.
65,000 Toronto Hydro customers in the dark
The storm's impact extended beyond the roads to the city's energy grid. Toronto Hydro reported that approximately 65,000 customers lost power at the storm's peak. While 40,000 had service restored by midnight, roughly 25,000 remained without electricity as the city began its recovery porcess.
This power failure created secondary safety hazards, as many traffic signals went dark. City officials encouraged residents to treat these intersections as four-way stops. The city also managed over 1,100 service requests, prioritizing the restoration of hydro and critical roadway access.
The missing tally of total rainfall and damage
Despite the available data, several key figures remain unverified. While Bill Coulter noted that some parts of the city likely received 100 millimetres or more, the final official summary of total rainfall across all districts has not been released. Additionally, while reports mentioned a roof blown off in Brampton and a fallen tree in Etobicoke, the total number of residential property insurance claims resulting from the storm remains unknown.
It also remains unclear exactly how many customers were still without power early Thursday morning , as Toronto Hydro provided peak and midnight figures but not a final morning tally.
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