humber river flooding

Toronto's Humber River overflows flooding the banks and the photos are wild

As rain fell and ice accumulated this week, Toronto's rivers jammed and overflowed.

The Don River spilled over its banks onto the adjacent Lower Don River Trail. Long Branch GO Station tunnel and train platforms flooded with water just as commuters headed to work.

But the Humber River saw huge ice jams clogging the waterway and also causing the river to overflow on the banks and into the Old Mill Tennis Club, according to video captured by Lisa Tait Wright.

Wright tells blogTO she shot photos and video of the river overflowing on Thursday morning.

In the video she says the tennis courts were "completely submerged under ice and water."

Panning across the river, you can see ice chunks clogging the watercourse.

In another video, Tait Wright shows a school field flooded with garbage cans knocked in the water.

"It's all underwater," she says.

The parking lot under the TTC Old Mill Station was also completely flooded.

Massive chunks of ice were deposited on the shore.

humber river flooding

Ice chunks were jammed the river.  Lisa Tait Wright photo

The combination of above freezing temperatures and high river water levels provided the favourable conditions for ice jams and flooding in low‐lying areas, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority said.

"Ice break-up has occurred within the lower Don River and lower Humber River and may have occurred within other watercourses as well," the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority said. "Risk of ice jams is possible in these areas and others throughout the GTA."

The flooding wreaked havoc on a construction site that has been working at Etienne Brule Park.

People saw "construction equipment along the banks submerged, dragged away."

Some even noticed a strong smell of diesel near the construction site, which was reported to emergency services and the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Those living near the river were understandably concerned. Hopefully, cooler temperatures in the forecast will stabilize the flooding and help officials in the clean-up.

Photos by

Lisa Tait Wright


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