Toronto rarely sees weather like this. On Wednesday, September 2, the city was hit hard. A powerful storm rolled through with almost no warning. Torrential rain, giant hail, and destructive winds followed close behind.
Some residents are already calling it a “100-year storm.” Given the damage left behind, that description does not feel exaggerated.
How the Storm Started
The storm moved across southern Ontario during the afternoon and evening. It brought golf ball sized hail to several neighborhood’s north of the city. Skies over downtown Toronto darkened to near nighttime levels.
Radar estimated wind gusts crossing 130 kilometers per hour in some areas. Rainfall totals varied sharply depending on location. Parts of the city saw anywhere between 10 and 112 millimeters of rain.
Environment Canada also confirmed something rarer for the region. A tornado touched down on radar northwest of Kitchener, Ontario. The Northern Tornadoes Project is now surveying the area.
Experts hope to confirm the tornado’s exact strength soon.
Roads Turned Into Rivers
The Don Valley Parkway became one of the storm’s biggest casualties. Floodwater submerged sections of the highway, trapping several vehicles. Drivers were caught completely off guard by how fast water rose.
Some had to be rescued after their cars became stuck mid-road.
Cleanup crews worked through the night to clear debris and reopen lanes. Flooding was not limited to downtown either. Highway 404 near Steeles Avenue in Markham flooded as well. Ontario Provincial Police confirmed a vehicle got stuck there too that led to closure of the southbound on-ramp for hours.
Commuters trying to get home faced their own nightmare. The Toronto Transit Commission suspended subway service in several affected areas. One striking video showed floodwater rushing straight into a moving city bus.
Toronto Pearson International Airport was not spared from the disruption either. Dozens of evening flights were delayed or cancelled altogether.
Power Outages Across the City
At the height of the storm, outage numbers climbed fast. More than 65,000 customers lost electricity at the peak of the crisis. Toronto Hydro crews worked quickly to restore service where possible.
By Wednesday night, around 45,000 customers were still without power.
Read More: Rawalpindi Floods: Heaviest Rain in Three Years Brings Chaos to the City
Fallen trees and downed lines caused most of the damage. Rogers Stadium, a major concert venue in the city’s north end, suffered heavily. It got significant damages. Thankfully, no one was injured during the extreme weather event.
No Deaths, But a Close Call
Given the scale of destruction, officials expected the worst. But thankfully no major injuries or deaths have been reported so far. Toronto Fire Services responded to nearly 1,500 calls within just 24 hours.
That is the second highest call volume in the department’s entire history.
Crews rescued people trapped in elevators and stuck on scaffolding. Officials say the low injury count reflects how well emergency systems held up.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow addressed the crisis directly on social media. She confirmed the city’s emergency operations center had been activated since morning. “City crews are already out responding to downed power wires, fallen trees, flooding and more,” she wrote.
Mayor Berry Vrbanovic also confirmed that his office received “more than 100 calls and emails regarding downed trees” overnight. Environment Canada also issued a fresh safety warning the following day.
Officials cautioned that rivers were now flowing faster and higher than usual. “Stay safe around water by avoiding rivers, streams, and nearby trails,” the agency advised residents.
A Warning About What’s Ahead
Climate experts say storms like this are becoming harder to ignore. Toronto’s infrastructure, built for gentler weather, keeps getting tested by extremes like this.
For now, the city is focused on cleanup and recovery. But the bigger question many residents say is whether Toronto is ready for the next one.
