Thousands left without power after flash floods cause chaos in Toronto

Severe downpours have crippled Toronto, leaving thousands facing power outages and commuters stranded.

Around 300,000 people in Canada’s largest city have been left without power after the thunderstorm and rains struck on Monday night.

The deluge forced subways to be shut and flights to be cancelled, even drivers struggled on major roads as their cars were left half submerged in the rapidly rising flood waters.

Nearly 1,400 people were rescued by police and fire fighters from a GO Transit train after it got stuck in the flood waters. The rescue took seven hours and a dingy was used to evacuate trapped passengers.

According to authorities, give or six people were treated for minor injuries. Some parts of the train tracks have been left completely underwater and unusable by the storm, and GO Transit has advised people to find alternative routes.

An estimated 100mm of rain fell in 24 hours, triple the amount of the previous record set back in 2008.