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It poured so hard in Toronto that rain fell inside the Eaton Centre

Shoppers inside Eaton Centre found themselves in the middle of a rainstorm amid a severe thunderstorm warning for Toronto and surrounding regions Wednesday afternoon.

A severe thunderstorm warning for the city and surrounding areas has since ended

CBC News ·
Water reportedly leaked into the top level of the shopping centre and streamed down onto the levels below. (Natasha Fatah/Twitter)

Shoppers inside Eaton Centre found themselves in the middle of a rainstorm amid a severe thunderstorm warning for Toronto and surrounding regions Wednesday afternoon.

Water reportedly leaked into the top level of shopping centre and streamed down onto the levels below.

Cadillac Fairview, the company that owns Eaton Centre, said in a statement the leak began on Level 3 in the mall's south east end, and was the result of rainfall.

The property team has located the source of the leak and has closed some shops for the evening. The mall however remains up and running, the statement said.

Environment Canada issued the warning just after 4 p.m. calling for the possibility of very strong wind gusts, heavy rain and up to nickel-sized hail.The weather agency was tracking a cluster of storms moving eastward at approximately 75 km/h.

The warning has since ended.Toronto police say they received an influx of weather-related calls Wednesday afternoon, including reports of downed wires and trees. (Ian Kalushner/CBC)

Toronto police say they continue to deal with an influx of weather-related calls Wednesday afternoon, including reports of downed wires and trees. People are being warned to stay at least 10 metres away from any downed wires and to treat them as live.

The TTC says several of its bus routes are diverting as a result and signal issues on Line 1 briefly forced trains to turn back at Sheppard station. Environment Canada issued the warning just after 4 p.m. calling for the possibility of very strong wind gusts, heavy rain and up to nickle-sized hail. The warning has since ended. (Michael Prestia/CBC)

Toronto Hydro says there are approximately 16,500 people without power in pockets scattered across the city, and that it hopes the majority will be back up and running overnight. Meanwhile Hydro One says over 40,000 of its customers are without power.

Police say they received multiple reports of downed trees as a result of the storm. (Submitted by Dan Landry)