flooding toronto

Flooding in Toronto is the new normal

In Toronto right now, there’s a lot of truth to the saying “When it rains, it pours.”

Late summer storms that have the weather turning from pleasant one second to nasty the next have been plaguing the city lately.

Areas south of Front Street, most notably vital transit hub Union Station and nearby Simcoe Street, have been hit especially hard.

The fact that yesterday's storm resulted is the second instance of flooding in the area and the station in less than two weeks has some wondering whether there are some serious underlying infrastructure problems.

The situation has also put a real damper on the recent exciting renovations to Union Station’s basement, as well as the ongoing Summer Market.

Literally picked the worst day to travel #torontoflood

A post shared by Laurel (@laurelbarbararebecca) on

Videos that circulated yesterday after the brief but powerful storm show just how flooded streets can be.

Lake Shore Boulevard and Queens Quay in particular had inches of water that cars were forced to navigate hoping to avoid the worst.

Some streets looked like actual rivers. And water seems to regularly come bursting out of pipes, flooding condos, underground parking lots and other buildings.

But the situation at Union Station is like something out of a disaster movie where commuters seem to be forced to wade through ankle deep water on the regular.

The city is cleaned up now and back to normal but it feels like we're just another rain storm away until the flooding comes back.

Lead photo by

dhassjon


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