Toronto

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Heavy, slow-moving thunderstorms slammed Toronto Monday night, flooding parts of the city, grinding the TTC to a halt, stopping a GO train in its flooded tracks and knocking out power for thousands of residents.

The sudden rainfall flooded the Don Valley Parkway and other major roads along with subway stations during the Monday night commute. Power was knocked out to many homes in Toronto and in the surrounding GTA. Enersource officials said around 80% of their customers in Mississauga were without power at one point.

Clean-up is expected to continue Tuesday from the storm that led to some harrowing scenes around the city, including frustrated GO train passengers wading through water after fleeing a stalled and flooded train near the Bayview extension.

Emergency crews used watercraft to rescue hundreds of the GO passengers after hours on the Richmond Hill-bound train.

A Ferrari was abandoned in a flooded downtown underpass, residents waded through of flooded streets, sidewalks and bike paths and Toronto firefighters rescued people trapped in cars.

Mayor Rob Ford was urged residents to stay inside Monday night and “batten down the hatches” as the city scrambled to respond to the flooding and forecasters predicted more rain was set to fall.

“We’re just going to work through this — it’s just going to be a rough ride,” Ford told the Toronto Sun Monday night.

Ford was monitoring the situation from his home, speaking with city officials by phone including Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair and TTC CEO Andy Byford. Power was knocked out to the mayor’s house along with thousands of others across the GTA.

To keep his kids cool, Ford loaded the family into his SUV during the blackout.

“I’m just answering calls and dealing with the situation as best I can,” he said.

“The storm’s overwhelming. It’s all hands on deck. We’ve got everything covered. We’re doing the best we can.”

Ford doubted the city could have been better prepared for the sudden storm.

“I don’t think any city could have handled what we just went through,” he said. “What can you do?”

Late into the night, flood warnings remained in place as the Toronto Police and City of Toronto Emergency Services advised the public to “remain in their homes, avoid underpasses and low-lying areas.”

Police warned the Toronto Region Conservation Authority’s Flood Duty Officer had advised “the banks of the Don River are at risk of collapse in the area of Hoggs Hollow in the area of Yonge St. and York Mills.”

Public Works Chairman Denzil Minnan-Wong told the Toronto Sun the most “significant” flooding was in North York and the old City of Toronto.

King West resident Jennifer Angiers said her building lost power around 6 p.m.

“I can literally see waves on the street, it doesn’t look like King St. — it looks like a river,” she said from her King St. condo.

From Kipling station, a transit rider said nearby parking lots were flooded and water was pouring into the subway tunnels.

“It’s unbelievable, water was pouring down the stairs in the subway station and then the lights went out, it was really scary. When we got outside, you could see parked cars surrounded in water up to their windows,” said Ralph Siekanowicz, a TTC rider who was trying to get home from work from Mississauga.

“There are hundreds of us waiting here now for shuttle buses, we are pulling our hair out,” added Siekanowicz.

Union Station and other subway stations were shut down due to flooding.