Major flooding turns Toronto transit station into terrifying water park

Few sights are scarier for people who watched Titanic on loop back in the day than water cascading down a set of stairs to slowly rise around them.

That said, it's also cool to see waterfalls where they aren't supposed to be (when you're not chained to a pole in the basement of a sinking boat, that is. Hi Leo.)

Public transit riders in Toronto got quite the thrill, either way, last night when a burst water pipe burst at Scarborough Centre, flooding the RT station in spectacular fashion.

Scarborough Centre Station was a total mess Tuesday evening - 📹 @BusRidin #Toronto #Scarborough #TTC #Line3 pic.twitter.com/mPRBVYylnj

— blogTO (@blogTO) February 24, 2021

Videos posted to Twitter and Instagram show water gushing down from the station's raised RT platform, into the lower concourse from above.

TTC spokesperson Stuart Green tells blogTO that the leak was first identified between 5:30 and 6 p.m. The transit agency announced just after 6 p.m. on Tuesday that trains on Line 3 were no longer stopping at Scarborough Centre "due to flooding." 

Green says that the water was shut off and that shuttle buses were sent out to supplement RT service. Crews cleaned up the station overnight, but when they turned the water back on they discovered yet another leak that Green says "will require more work to repair." 

Here is another one too from last night. pic.twitter.com/NNkwvZtBat

— RidinBus (@BusRidin) February 24, 2021

Now, to be clear, nobody was in real imminent danger on account of the burst pipe — the bus terminal into which the water flowed is at ground level, not below.

Customers waiting for the bus when the pipe burst no doubt got at least a little bit wet, however. Some waded right on into the mess to capture video footage (and for that, we thank them.)

Others, like the clever teens seen in the clip below, did everything they could to avoid soggy shoes.

Scarborough Centre Station Flood pic.twitter.com/KBHlKK1t3t

— Howard Harris (@HowardLHarris) February 24, 2021

All elevators and escalators at Scarborough Centre remain out of service until further notice, according to the TTC, "due to major flooding."

Green tells blogTO that, while the flooding knocked out electrical power to gates and fare payment systems, regular service resumed at the station this morning. Fare inspectors with mobile POS devices are manually staffing the gates to allow people in.

Unlike the now-infamous flooding of Union Station back in 2012, Toronto residents have yet to photoshop sharks or a cannonballing mayor into photos from the scene... but you could change that, if you wanted to.