Ottawa streets 'became canals' as thunderstorm brought flooding, power outages
CBC
A thunderstorm brought heavy rain, hail and power outages to parts of Ottawa Thursday, forcing some people to abandon their vehicles on flooded roads.
Ottawa Police Service and Ottawa Fire Services warned of road closures Thursday afternoon and said they had to direct traffic and move submerged vehicles.
Environment Canada issued severe thunderstorm warnings for the Ottawa-Gatineau area earlier Thursday, warning a line of storms could hit the region from around midday into the evening.
The agency lifted the warnings and watches in the Ottawa-Gatineau region shortly after 5 p.m.
Environment Canada said Ottawa's climate weather station recorded 77.4 millimetres of rainfall in the city Thursday, while surrounding regions received between 80 and 110 millimetres.
The previous rainfall record for Aug. 10 in Ottawa came in 2004, when 67 millimetres of rain fell on the city, according to Environment Canada.
As of about 6 p.m., Ottawa paramedics reported no injuries due to the storm.
Road closures include Woodroffe Avenue between Knoxdale Road and Norice Street and Merivale Road between Colonnade Road and Woodfield Drive, according to City of Ottawa social media.
People should only travel if necessary, Ottawa fire advised on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Posts on social media show streets in the Nepean and Heron Gate areas deep under water.
Sections of St. Laurent Boulevard, Industrial, Smyth and Innes roads and parts of the city's Vanier, Overbrook, Glebe and Rockcliffe neighbourhoods were also affected by flooding, the city said in an email.
Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Sean Devine said on X he received reports of backed-up sewers causing "street rivers" in Nepean.
In an interview, Devine called the flooding "sobering."
"This is just the latest in a series of extreme weather events," he said. "Whether it's ice rain, or whether it's tornadoes. Now we have this kind of flooding. How many times does Mother Nature have to slap us in the face before we wake up?"
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