‘Who’s going to help me now?’: Residents of flooded apartment building face uncertainty

Residents of a 25-storey highrise apartment building in Winnipeg that was evacuated Monday due to flooding say they’re not sure what the future holds.
Tenants at the Holiday Towers building at 170 Hargrave St. had no choice but to leave their suites Monday morning while fire crews tried to stop what the city is calling a “significant flood”.
Deputy chief Jason Shaw said the incident was caused by a sprinkler and fire alarm standpipe system that had been opened.
Although crews were able to shut off the water, the building sustained a large amount of water damage to its critical infrastructure, and as of Tuesday, the power remained shut off and elevators non-operational.
“Where we’re at right now is the building owners are looking at repairing all those systems and we’re looking at getting all of those people back into occupancy as soon as possible,” he said.
Shaw said the city’s emergency support staff were able to complete a registration process with around 230 of the building’s occupants, and of that number, two dozen people were deemed to need additional support from the city.
Evacuees say they’re in limbo, waiting to hear when — and if — they’ll be allowed back into their apartments in the north building of the downtown complex.
Resident Turell Murdock told Global News that his suite is on the 12th floor, near where the water began pouring out. He’s since been allowed to re-enter to get essentials like medication, but is still awaiting word on when he can return, as well as whether his belongings can be salvaged.
“I have not gotten an estimated timeline,” Murdock said. “The speculation is a couple of days.
“It’s very unexpected. I’ve never personally had to deal with (something like this). I’m a little bit nervous, but at least I have my partner to rely on. I know not everyone is nearly as lucky.
“They did have an evacuation bus set out, so I believe that people have somewhere to go… hopefully.”
Diana Puttee, whose suite is 10 floors above where the flood began, said she was helped by a neighbour for the first night, but isn’t sure what she’ll do going forward, assuming she can’t return to her apartment soon.
“A very kind neighbour of mine put me up at the Delta (hotel), so I spent a night at the Delta,” Puttee told Global Winnipeg.
“Now it’s another day, and who’s going to help me now?”
Puttee praised Winnipeg fire crews and police for their help with the evacuation, but is concerned about what the potential damage means for her future.
“If we don’t have tenant insurance, like myself, we’re basically out on the street.”
The City of Winnipeg confirmed the details of the flood, and that its emergency social services team was on site helping with temporary accommodations, but said they had no further information about the timeline for tenants to return.
“I took some time off from work to deal with this, but I only have until next week, so hopefully they’ll get it all figured out soon,” said resident Fernando Molina.
“My apartment, there’s some damage done, but material things are not important. Right now, I need a place to stay.”
Global News has reached out to building management for more information.