Heavy rain possible one day after major flooding on Barrie road

A weather system is moving through the region, with the risk of heavy downpours and thunderstorms one day after parts of Barrie received one month's worth of rain over a few hours on Sunday night.

Gerald Cheng, an Environment Canada meteorologist, told CTV News torrential rain flooded roads to the tune of 60 to 90 millimetres in low-lying areas Sunday.

He noted a typical August would see 89 millimetres for the entire month.

"It was a slow-moving thunderstorm, which means the rain is over the same area for a longer amount of time," Cheng added. "This disturbance has to move on, but it's still here. It makes me nervous."

Cars navigate through flooded roads in Barrie, Ont., on Sun., Aug. 21, 2022 (CTV News)

Almost as nervous as it made the drivers on Essa Road near Fairview Road as they white-knuckled their vehicles through water up to the rims of their tires on Sunday.

Barrie police assisted at the intersection, while nearby OPP shut down both northbound off and on-ramps to Highway 400 as water coursed across the asphalt.

In an email to CTV News, the Ministry of Transportation stated a contractor working on the Essa Road bridge replacement project was cleaning up the construction site following the storm.

"Significant rainfall led ditches to overflow, causing some washout of the Highway 400 northbound off-ramp shoulder with material being deposited on Essa Road and Fairview Street. The contractor quickly mobilized yesterday to make repairs and clean up areas so that the off-ramps and roads could be reopened safely to traffic."

Cheng figures by Tuesday afternoon, the thunderstorms would blow away, only to be replaced by another thunderstorm-prone system on Thursday and Friday.

"Saturday and Sunday look good," he concluded.