WATCH ABOVE: Carolyn Kury de Castillo with more on how downtown residents are coping.
CALGARY- Hundreds of people are now looking for places to stay for the next week. They are being warned to unplug all appliances to prevent a power surge when everything is restored.
Apartment buildings in downtown Calgary are quickly becoming vacant. What many thought was just going to be a minor power outage, is turning into a major headache.
“I came out and everything was dark it was just horrible,” one downtown resident said.
An exodus of Calgarians left without power, so they’re leaving their homes. Everywhere you look Sunday, people are packing their belongings and carting them away, in some cases not sure of their final destination.
“My wife she is also from Columbia we have no family here.”
Fernando Chacon and his wife are hiking to Mewata Armoury to charge their electronics.
The city has set up an information centre there, where an assessment can be done for accommodation challenges.
There’s also a place to take pets for temporary accommodation.
“This morning I was in my apartment and the fire department upstairs and went upstairs I live on the third floor and they told me I have to evacuate because there was a problem with the gas in the building. And they told us to pack everything really fast and to leave they didn’t tell us how long it was going to take. So we have no idea right now where we’re going to stay tonight,” Chacon said.
The power outage is also causing a loss of water pressure to high floor units so the Eau Claire YMCA is now offering free drops in for showers and city is providing emergency drinking water. It’s left many families looking for hotels to stay at.
“If we are in another country or you were used to the power outages you were prepared and you have a flashlight radio and radio and things like that. And here especially in downtown we weren’t expecting it. And we don’t have anything so, yesterday night we lit up our rooms with our mobile device and laptop and I am running out of all of them now,” Varasad Prasad said.
The city is advising people to contact their insurance company to see if accommodations are covered under their policies and clear the food out of fridges and freezers.
“Pretty much anything that’s perishable, anything that’s frozen in the freezer, anything I can throw out. Anything I can move I’m trying to move, couple days worth of clothes. That’s pretty much it. It just feels like the flood all over again from last year,” Daniel To said.
Shaw has provided an open wi-fi network throughout Calgary for those who are using devices to stay connected.
Look for the Shaw guest network on your wi-fi enabled devices. No password is required.
Also on twitter, “#yycthanks” has been set up for anyone who would like to offer help to power outage victims.
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