Flooding in Toronto is the new normal

In Toronto right now, there’s a lot of truth to the saying “When it rains, it pours.”

Late summer storms that have the weather turning from pleasant one second to nasty the next have been plaguing the city lately.

Well union is a no go. pic.twitter.com/wc8q337kVB

— Tyler Smith 🇨🇦 (@TJ_Smizzy) August 17, 2018

Areas south of Front Street, most notably vital transit hub Union Station and nearby Simcoe Street, have been hit especially hard.

@TorontosMayor obviously some infrastructure mistakes showing up since flooding occurring after every rain. Union Station, Lower Simcoe, the new subway line, recently adjusted Gardiner. Call out the engineers!

— Bonita (@BonitaCanadian) August 18, 2018

The fact that yesterday's storm resulted is the second instance of flooding in the area and the station in less than two weeks has some wondering whether there are some serious underlying infrastructure problems.

So much for the millions and millions of dollars spent renovating Union Station! #onstorm

— Some One (@SEwaiting) August 18, 2018

The situation has also put a real damper on the recent exciting renovations to Union Station’s basement, as well as the ongoing Summer Market.

Literally picked the worst day to travel #torontoflood

A post shared by Laurel (@laurelbarbararebecca) on Aug 17, 2018 at 1:58pm PDT

Videos that circulated yesterday after the brief but powerful storm show just how flooded streets can be.

The drive home through the “lake” on #lakeshoreblvd. #dashcam #aukey #dashcamvideos #toronto #rainto #torontoflood #flooding #ponding #floodedroads #weather #torontoweather #rain #driving #drivingthroughwater #lakeshoretoronto #ontarioplace #cne #deaddodge #friyay ?

A post shared by James Shum (@shujam) on Aug 17, 2018 at 4:50pm PDT

Lake Shore Boulevard and Queens Quay in particular had inches of water that cars were forced to navigate hoping to avoid the worst.

Taking a short cut through the lake.. (Lakeshore Blvd) #gladihaveatruck #fjcriuser #floodonlakeshore #heavyrain #flood #torontoflood #mightneedabiggerboat #rowrowrowyourboat

A post shared by Marc Snow (@marcthesnowman) on Aug 17, 2018 at 3:08pm PDT

Some streets looked like actual rivers. And water seems to regularly come bursting out of pipes, flooding condos, underground parking lots and other buildings.

There’s some flooding at Union Station with the sudden downpour (which hopefully looks short lived) so both teamways are closed for now for safety. Stay safe & dry pic.twitter.com/5VE1SHH1nX

— Anne Marie Aikins (@femwriter) August 17, 2018

But the situation at Union Station is like something out of a disaster movie where commuters seem to be forced to wade through ankle deep water on the regular.

⁦@JohnTory⁩ is this your idea of a first class city. Union Station at rush hour. Welcome to Toronto! pic.twitter.com/rr0kZpzLye

— Queen Mare (@queenmare1) August 18, 2018

The city is cleaned up now and back to normal but it feels like we're just another rain storm away until the flooding comes back.