Looking out from the window of his home, Michael Page, a 35-year-resident of Ward’s Island, sees duck-filled ponds where there was formerly dry land.“We’re sinking,” Page said. “It’s raining like crazy and there’s so sign of it really letting up.”The crawlspace beneath his home has about 36 centimetres of water in it, said Page, adding he’s lucky there’s nothing of value in it. Many of his neighbours in a similar situation have heating units and heat pumps in their crawlspace, which are now badly damaged, he said. Worse still, Page added, is the mould that will likely flourish because of the flooding.“This whole mould issue is a really big health issue and everyone in our house has allergies,” he said. City spokesperson Wynna Brown said the latest rainfall has caused more flooding on Toronto Island Park, which is being monitored closely. “There have been impacts on residences which vary depending on specific site conditions,” said Brown, adding the city has been working to mitigate the effects by using large industrial pumps to remove surface pooling and employing 25,000 sandbags. The situation on the mainland wasn’t quite as dire Thursday, but flooding caused the closure of some roads including a portion of the Bayview Extension and an area near Kew Gardens.Meanwhile, at the already waterlogged Woodbine Beach, water levels pushed even higher. The “pond” that had formed on the beach in recent weeks was gone, with any remaining portions of dry land consumed by the lake, and an off-leash dog park near Kew Gardens that borders the lake was completely submerged. On portions of the boardwalk, water swelled between the wooden planks with every step; on others, waves crashed into the side and sent spray more than a metre into the air, soaking unlucky walkers and joggers. The Leuty Lifeguard Station, a heritage building, sat in a massive puddle. “ ...
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