Powerful storm hits Canada’s Toronto, cutting power to tens of thousands

By Al Jazeera Staff and Reuters. Published On 3 Sep 20263 Sep 2026.

Key points

• At least 45, 000 customers were without electricity as of 8pm on Wednesday (00: 00 GMT on Thursday), according to electricity provider Toronto Hydro.
• Canada's weather agency, Environment and Climate Change Canada, lifted an orange warning for severe thunderstorms in the Greater Toronto Area.
• The Michael Garron Hospital, located in Toronto's East York community, remarked its emergency department has been affected by flooding.
• Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow remarked in a post on X that the city's emergency operations centre has been activated since Wednesday morning.
• Dozens of flights set to depart Toronto Pearson International airport on Wednesday evening were either delayed or cancelled.

For context, a powerful thunderstorm has hit Canada's largest city, Toronto, damaging buildings, closing roads and cutting power to tens of thousands of residents.

Notably, the storm on Wednesday brought torrential rain, solid winds, and substantial hail, prompting tornado watches and warnings in some areas.

Meanwhile, the storm brought down trees and caused flooding, prompting road closures in the city, including on the Don Valley Parkway, the CBC documented.

Meanwhile, the Michael Garron Hospital, located in Toronto's East York community, remarked its emergency department has been affected by flooding.

Images published by the CBC indicated cars almost submerged in the city of Vaughan, north of Toronto.

"City crews are already out responding to downed power wires, fallen trees, flooding and more, " she remarked. The Toronto Transit Commission. It operates subways and buses, "is working to restore service where it has been affected by flooding and debris spread by high winds", she continued.

But a yellow alert warning of heat and severe thunderstorms remained in place over parts of the southwestern Ontario province.

For now, powerful storm hits Canada's Toronto, cutting power to tens of thousands remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.