Drake's Mansion Flooded in Toronto Downpour

Toronto, Canada – Canadian rapper Drake found himself wading through a flooded mansion on Tuesday, after a torrential rainstorm overwhelmed the city, causing widespread flooding and power outages.

“This better be Espresso Martini,” Drake joked on Instagram alongside a video showcasing murky brown water surging into a room of his home. Known as "the Embassy," Drake’s residence is located in Toronto’s affluent Bridle Path neighborhood.

The city experienced an unprecedented amount of rainfall, with over 97 millimeters (about 3.82 inches) recorded at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport within a four-hour period. This deluge surpassed Toronto’s average July rainfall and made it the fifth wettest day ever recorded. The previous rainfall record for July 16, set in 1941, was also shattered, with 25.9 millimeters (1 inch) falling at the airport that year.

The downpour brought chaos to the city, submerging streets, closing highways and subway stations, and leaving tens of thousands of people without power. Cars were seen floating on a highway east of the city, and rain seeped through the ceiling at City Hall. Even the pedestrian tunnel connecting air travelers to Billy Bishop airport, situated on an island, flooded.

Toronto Fire Services responded to nearly 500 incidents between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. ET Tuesday, including over 50 elevator rescues and more than 20 people requiring rescue from cars and buildings due to the heavy rain. At its peak, Toronto Hydro reported 167,000 customers without power.

The storm is a stark reminder of the increasingly common extreme weather events occurring globally as the climate crisis intensifies. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow highlighted the need to address climate change, stating that such days are likely to become more frequent. She also pointed out that Toronto's aging infrastructure exacerbates the city's vulnerability to flooding.

This summer, record-breaking storms have wreaked havoc across the Caribbean and parts of North America. Hurricane Beryl, the earliest Category 5 hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic, caused significant damage in Grenada and Jamaica this month, claiming at least nine lives. The storm then unleashed flooding, rains, and winds in Texas, knocking out power to over 2.5 million homes and leaving at least eight people dead in Texas and Louisiana.