Tory says homes on Toronto island 'potentially in jeopardy'

Mayor John Tory sayscity officials are monitoring the condition on theToronto Islands. Winds have shifted, which means the water is being pushed ontolower areasof the islands, where flooding was evident on Friday.

"The island this morning, I'm informed, is much as it was yesterday. Everybody is keeping a very close eye on it," he said."We'll just have to take it one day at a time."

• The worst of the rainfall is over, but there's still the risk of flooding
• Why your insurance likely won't protect you if your basement floods

Tory said homes on Ward's Island are "potentially in jeopardy"if more rain falls but city officials are mapping low lying areas and monitoring lake levels, he said.

"In terms of damage, I am not sure even if the residents were saying there was very much damage," he said.

"They are quitehardy about just saying it'sa bit of water in the crawl space.

"It's one of those things where it could get worse if the water levels got much higher, but for the moment, we didn't even hear people saying yesterday that there was a lot of homes that were actuallydamaged."

Flooding on the islands are due more to lake levels than recent rain, Tory said, although the heavy rain has made both situations worse.

Meteorologist Colette Kennedy explains what what's behind the heavy rain in GTA

7 years ago

Duration 2:50

Meteorologist Colette Kennedy explains what what's behind the heavy rain in GTA

Precautions taken

Warren Hoselton, a park supervisor forthe Toronto Islands,told CBC Toronto that 5,000 sandbags have been put down and more bags are expected to be placed tomorrow.

Hoselton says waves can rise to two or three feet high on the islands andthe steps taken to protect the islands are only precautionary.

"The water levels are high and they are predicted to rise slightly, but the wildcard is the winds and the waves action," he said."It's not going to be a quick fix. We're not out of the woods yet. It's going to be a while."

• Mayor surveys beach after rainfall warning ends for Toronto

The Toronto Islands have seen similar large floods in the early '70s and early '90s, and the recent flooding hasn't fazed some longtime residents.

Jimmy Jones movedto the Toronto Islands in 1932 as a child and says he has seen flooding on the islands that have even been worse.

"This is bad, but not as bad it has been." Jones said. "I think that we're okay now."