Commuters rescued as flash flooding from peak hour storm wreaks havoc in Toronto

A summer storm has wreaked havoc on Toronto, Canada, swamping rail and road access to the city and leaving commuters ankle-deep in murky water, with several needing rescue.

The storm also knocked out power to at least 300,000 people in Canada's biggest city, and flooded homes across the greater Toronto area, CNN reported.

It also shut down subways, with many commuters needing to be evacuated from trains into rescue boats.

According to CBC, about 1,000 people were trapped aboard a northbound GO Transit train, with police and firefighters taking around seven hours to ferry everyone to dry ground.

Meanwhile, underpasses and many basements were left flooded and a number of people trapped in vehicles.

The Associated Press cited Environment Canada as saying that a severe thunderstorm late Monday had drenched some parts of the city with more than 3.9 inches (10 centimeters) of rain, "easily beating the previous one-day rainfall record of 1.4 inches in 2008."

CBC's meteorologist Jay Scotland said that while forecast, the rain was "unprecedented," with most falling during the evening commute.

The Globe and Mail reported that transportation in the Toronto area had yet to fully recover by Tuesday morning, and gave a breakdown of the problem areas.