There is no subway service on Line 1 between Finch West and Wilson stations following a heavy downpour that temporarily flooded many streets, basements and low-lying areas in Toronto on Tuesday night.
The Toronto Transit Commission said shuttle buses are running between the two subway stations and it is not known when full service will resume.
The area of Jane Street and Wilson Avenue is also closed to traffic as a slow-moving summer storm drenched the city Tuesday night, causing widespread flooding.
Toronto police said two men had to be rescued from an elevator that was stuck in the basement of a building in the city’s north end.
Authorities said water in the elevator had reached six-feet high and they only had about one foot of air space. Police said officers were able to pry the elevator door open with a crowbar and the men were taken out with minor injuries.
A number of vehicles had to be abandoned across the city as roadways were flooded due to the rising water level.
Firefighters managed to rescue a taxi driver stuck in a vehicle which was partially submerged at Bloor Street and Perth Avenue in the Junction Triangle neighbourhood.
Meanwhile, a streetcar was rendered inoperable after being trapped at the King Street underpass near Atlantic Avenue.
Union Station, Toronto’s downtown transit hub, was also partially flooded as commuters had to maneuver through drenched entrances and tunnels.
Lower Simcoe Street underpass, an area prone to flooding in downtown Toronto, was also an easy target for Tuesday night’s storm.
Footage captured and posted on social media showed vehicles driving through the high water levels, but some had to be abandoned.
Tonight was borderline chaos at union station terminal. Our major cities are not equipped for storm water management and extreme weather events that will only become more prevalent due to climate change. #onstorm pic.twitter.com/u2IAkH0FBa— Jacob Brodka (@JBrodka) August 8, 2018
The rainstorm, which prompted a weather warning from Environment Canada, began around 10 p.m. and ended just before midnight.
The national weather office said more than 64 millimetres of rain had fallen at Billy Bishop Airport, just south of the downtown core, in only two hours.
A resident in the Wilson Avenue neighbourhood said her basement was flooded for a second time in the past six years and is a total loss.
“In 2012, the same thing happened. We installed new pipes which the pump they said would not let the water come in again. Anyways, this happened again and is a total loss for us,” Susana Luna said.
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