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TORONTO — Northbound and southbound lanes of the Don Valley Parkway have reopened after severe flooding shut down a section of the major Toronto freeway early Wednesday just before the start of the morning rush hour.

Police closed the lower end of the Don Valley Parkway at about 5 a.m. from the Gardiner Expressway north to Bloor St.

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Television pictures showed the Don River overflowing its banks in some spots, sending water cascading over the road.

Denzil Minnan-Wong, chairman of the city’s public works and infrastructure committee, said 50 to 60 millimetres of rain were dumped on the city in the span of an hour early this morning. By late morning, the city had received 200 calls related to the storm, many of them about basement flooding. North York appeared to be hit particularly hard.

“We didn’t see this coming,” Mr. Minnan-Wong told reporters gathered outside Mayor Rob Ford’s office. The area of the DVP that was submerged in water is low lying, which makes extreme storm episodes difficult to deal with, said Mr. Minnan-Wong. “When you have these micro bursts with such a significant volume in such a short period of time, it’s something that you can’t control.”