Residents left in limbo for 2nd day after flooding impacts 'critical infrastructure' at Winnipeg highrise

Diana Putte waited outside her apartment building Tuesday, unsure of where she might spend the night.

She is hoping to get some answers about the flooding that forced her and hundreds of others to evacuate an apartment building in downtown Winnipeg Monday. 

"We're basically out on the street," Putte said. "There's a whole bunch of tenants sitting in here, but they can't tell us anything." 

The city said a standpipe, used by firefighters to fight any blazes inside the building, was dislodged Monday morning. Water spewing out of the pipe quickly started flooding the 25-storey residential highrise at 170 Hargrave St., part of the Holiday Towers complex.

Jay Shaw, Winnipeg's deputy chief for safety, emergency management and public information, said the flooding affected "critical infrastructure" within the highrise, including the electrical alarm systems, elevators and hydro. That prompted authorities to order a full-scale evacuation of the tower. 

Shaw said the city registered and assessed 230 residents who were forced out of their homes on Monday. 

Putte, who has lived in the building for the past two years, was one of them. 

She spent Monday night in a hotel room covered by a friend. But on Tuesday, she said without tenant's insurance, her options were limited. 

"I paid my rent. I'm on a low income," she said. "Now I'm homeless. I have no address." 

The city said the majority of the residents were able to find accommodation for their first night, either by paying out of pocket for a room or staying with relatives. But Shaw said out of 230 evacuated residents, roughly 24 people required "some level of support" from the city on Monday night.

Amanda Janz, general manager at the downtown Winnipeg Hampton Inn, told CBC News the city booked some of the hotel's rooms on Monday, and some had been extended for Tuesday night. 

'Raining in the hallway': tenant

Ramona Hope Wiebe, who has been living at Holiday Towers for 19 years, was in her fifth-floor unit when the flooding began.  

"I could hear the water in the wall," she said. "I threw a towel down on the floor and I saw that it was collecting through the floor. It was raining in the hallway." 

Wiebe spent her Monday evening going in and out of the building, taking some of her stuff out while also trying to help a 92-year-old neighbour settle in a hotel room for the night.

"It was very confusing for people new to this country, new to the English language, elderly people," she said. "[There were] a lot of mixed messages about the issue."

The city said it's not clear when tenants might be able to return to the building, but critical systems impacted during the flooding need to be up and running before that can happen. 

So far, the property manager is still working with authorities to assess the damage and determine a timeline for the repairs needed to bring the building up to safety standards, the city said. 

"This could change over the next several hours or days," Shaw said. "This might be short term, but this might be medium term."

WRE Development, the management company that oversees Holiday Towers, did not respond to CBC's requests for comment before deadline on Monday and Tuesday. 

Meanwhile, the city said police continue to investigate how the flooding at the apartment unit started, but said the pipe didn't dislodge due to a fire.

"I'm mostly angry at whoever did this," said Wiebe. "It sounds like it was … a very bad and very expensive prank.

"That's where my anger is.… Don't mess with people's livelihood."

Flooded-out residents of Winnipeg high rise scrambling for a place to stay

3 months ago

Duration 1:48

Hundreds of residents evacuated from a downtown building are expected to spend a second night out of their homes, while city crews and the building's property manager assess the impact of significant flooding Monday.