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Thousands across the city are still without power as Toronto continues to clean up after Wednesday’s powerful thunderstorms.
As of Thursday morning, Toronto Hydro’s live outage maps show a little under 20,000 customers still without power, with the utility declaring an alert about widespread outages.
City power crews spent the night working on restoring power and repairing damage, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said during a Thursday morning press conference.
“They have restored 90% of outages, and are working to get the remaining outages resolved quickly.”
Hardest hit with outages were areas of North York and Midtown Toronto.
Came home to this. East Toronto near Woodbine. #onstorm pic.twitter.com/8u39wX8slJ
— Morris Popowich (@MoPopow) September 2, 2026
Similar scenes are playing out across southern Ontario, with Hydro One’s outage map showing widespread power cuts from London northeast into the GTA, impacting over 42,000 customers.
“After a storm, work is prioritized to restore power to the greatest number of customers in the shortest period of time,” read a statement from Hydro One.
“The estimated time of restoration may change when crews arrive onsite and start repairs based on any additional damage/repairs required.”
Both utilities warn residents to stay clear of downed power lines and treat them as live.
‘Severe, destructive storm’
Speaking to reporters at Thursday’s press conference, Chow said city emergency crews spent the day preparing for what would come.
“The moment the storm arrived, our crews were ready to go,” she said.
“Every part of our response was coordinated through the emergency operations centre.”
Fire crews, she said, responded to over 1,000 calls — the second-highest single-day call volume TFS has seen in the city’s history.
“They rescued people from flooded roads, secured equipment and prevented further damage,” she said.
Toronto: Flying couches. Falling trees. Flooded underpasses. 65K WITHOUT POWER. Imagine the drive to work tomorrow? #Onstorm
— Global Trends (@Global_Trends10) September 3, 2026
pic.twitter.com/MNK9o4pzdV
“TTC drivers and their operators did their best in very difficult circumstances to get people home safe.”
City Manager Paul Johnson said the centre of the storm entered the city near Willowdale and tracked southeast to Don Mills and exited near Scarborough Guildwood.
“Those are the areas which consistently saw between 100 and 110 mm of rain; just to put it into context, that’s what we’d declare as a 100-year storm,” he said.
With the Don River capturing much of that extra water, he said that’s what prompted the closure of the Don Valley Parkway.
Roads remain closed
City road crews, meanwhile, continue their work to reopen roads closed during the storm.
“Crews are out clearing debris and sediment, and sweeping roadways after floodwaters began receding overnight,” Chow said.
“If you need help dealing with storm damage, removing trees, branches or flooding on your property, please call 311.”
The Bayview extension remains closed in the area of Pottery Rd., as do portions of the Gardiner Expressway through the downtown core.
Chow said the Don Valley Parkway was in the process of being reopened as she spoke, and promised other roads would soon be open.
🇨🇦 Toronto, Canada is dealing with severe flooding, as heavy rains leave roads and several areas submerged. Residents and motorists are struggling to move around as floodwaters take over the streets.
— BLACK_GOD🖤🥷 (@sua_nyansa4) September 3, 2026
Prayers for everyone affected. 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/tUddIqXIi8
“Please continue to use caution on roads, and keep an eye out for flooding or clean-up crews.”
The TTC, she added, is operating at full service levels Thursday.
In Vaughan, a sinkhole that opened up on Huntington Rd. south of Rutherford Rd. caused a transport truck to fall to the river below.
Other city closures include the Humber Valley and Scarlett Woods golf courses, as well as vehicle access into High Park due to downed trees.
City beaches are expected to open by 10 a.m., and she said the CNE will operate as usual on Thursday.
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
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