A military helicopter rescued a man from the middle of Etobicoke Creek amid the flooding in Toronto on Tuesday night.
The man was stranded on a “small island” in the middle of the river, Toronto Fire acting district chief Tony Rowe said on Tuesday night.
The river, inundated by floodwaters, was fast-moving, Rowe said.
Toronto Fire crews, Toronto marine police and Peel police decided together that they needed assistance from the military to rescue the man, he said.
“It was a great job by the army coming in with their helicopter,” he said. “They brought their rescuer down, made contact with the person stranded and brought him up.”
The man was taken to paramedics to be assessed, Rowe said.
He is believed to be “a regular visitor of the island who would wade across the creek in normal times,” Toronto Fire said.
A severe storm drenched the GTA on Tuesday, causing significant flooding and widespread power outages.
Toronto Fire said they rescued 12 people from flooding on the Don Valley Parkway on Tuesday, including one person who was plucked from the roof of their car.