At least 264 homeowners are cleaning up flooded basements after Sunday thunderstorms dropped a whopping 88 mm of rain on southwest Scarborough in two hours.

Many will likely spend Tuesday, expected to be one of the hottest days of the summer so far, mopping up water in their basements. The temperature is forecast to reach 36C, but will feel hotter because of the humidity.

Councillor Michelle Berardinetti (Ward 35, Scarborough Southwest) is one of those homeowners. She was up all night Sunday trying to clear 45 cm of water from her basement, in the area of North Bonnington Ave. and Danforth Rd.

It’s not the first time she’s had flooding and at least 30 constituents are having similar problems.

The city offers subsidies of up to $3,200 to homeowners to put toward flood prevention measures.

But Berardinetti is pushing for the city to install larger stormwater pipes in two spots in her ward.

“The pipes aren’t big enough for the torrential downpours we’re experiencing,” she said.

And she wants Mayor Rob Ford to visit her home and see the state of her basement to show why larger pipes are needed. Ford’s office didn’t respond to the Star’s request for comment.

Councillor Michael Thompson (Ward 37, Scarborough Centre) also made house calls to constituents on Tower Dr. who were cleaning out flooded basements on Sunday.

He wonders whether sewer upgrades may be needed in his ward, too.

Parts of Scarborough received what the city categorizes as a 100-year storm, which means there’s a 1 per cent chance of such a storm happening in a given year.

City sewer infrastructure can typically only handle 25-year storms and isn’t equipped for intense rainfall in a short period of time.

For example, a deteriorated storm sewer collapsed during Sunday’s downpour and caused a sinkhole at Cedarbrook Park, at Eastpark Blvd. and Daphne Rd.

Even though Sunday’s weather caused localized damage, Environment Canada meteorologist Dave Phillips wouldn’t classify the thunderstorms as severe.

“We’re talking about it because of the local rain and flooding in Scarborough and the Whitby incident (where lightning struck a tent and sent 17 to hospital),” Phillips said.

He also said Sunday’s weather doesn’t indicate the beginning of Toronto’s stormy season, even though there’s a chance of thunderstorms on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The city receives about 28 thunderstorms a year on average, he said, and they’re the source of much of the city’s summer rain, with most storms occurring in July.

But rain has been scarce this summer, thanks to a flow of American air that seems to be dominating Canadian air.

Storms tend to happen when dry American air and cool Canadian air collide, but Canadian air has been “missing in action,” Phillips explained.

The American air can also be blamed for scorching heat that’s made this year — from July 2011 to this month — a contender for hottest on record in Toronto.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

The city has already recorded 15 heat or extreme heat alerts this summer and another could be issued Tuesday.

If temperatures reach a forecasted high of 36C, it would set a record for the hottest July 17 in Toronto history. The current record temperature is 34.9C, recorded last year.

With files from Paul Moloney and Katherine Dunn

Read more about: