Power expected to be restored to Calgary’s downtown core by mid Thursday

Watch above: Five thousand Calgary residents are spending Thanksgiving Monday in the dark. It’s been two days since an underground fire damaged power lines and crews say it will be at least Thursday before power can be restored. Jenna Freeman reports.

CALGARY – Enmax is “cautiously optimistic” power will be restored to about 5,000 Calgary residents and 2,100 businesses by mid-day Thursday.

The mayor joined Enmax and city officials at a press conference at Calgary’s Emergency Operations Centre Monday morning.

Outages continue between 5 Street S.W. and 11 Street SW and 4 Avenue SW and 7 Ave S.W. following Saturday night’s underground explosion and fire.

Enmax says engineers have been working around the clock to rebuild the badly damaged system.

All the damaged equipment and cables were removed Monday morning and are now being replaced.

It’s possible cable down the line may be further damaged but they won’t know until they re-energize.

“Within this particular manhole where the fire occurred there was significant damage and we can readily see that,” says Gianna Manes, President & CEO of Enmax.

“One thing we cannot tell at this point is if there was any damage to cable further beyond this point. The only way we will be able to tell…  is when we begin to re-energize the system.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Within this particular manhole where the fire occurred there was significant damage and we can readily see that," says Gianna Manes, President & CEO of Enmax.</p><p>"One thing we cannot tell at this point is if there was any damage to cable further beyond this point. The only way we will be able to tell…  is when we begin to re-energize the system."

361 affected residents registered at the Mewata Armoury Sunday to charge their phones and find safe places for their pets.  The information centre, however, will not continue to run Monday night.

The armory helped 270 of people find accommodation Saturday night. Officials are asking residents to check with their insurance companies to see if accommodation is covered under their policies.

Calgary Emergency Management Agency estimates about 70 per cent of people self-evacuated. CEMA suggests many of those that remain are elderly.

Calgary fire, police and search and rescue officials continue to sweep buildings to ensure remaining residents are safe to be there and their needs are being met.

“The water is safe to use however, because of the power being out in some buildings they may not have water pressure in some of the higher elevations above twelve stories,” says Ken Uzeloc, Director of CEMA.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The water is safe to use however, because of the power being out in some buildings they may not have water pressure in some of the higher elevations above twelve stories," says Ken Uzeloc, Director of CEMA.

Volunteers with the Canadian Red Cross Emergency Response Team are providing emergency supplies to residents, including flashlights, water and garbage bags, in addition to food for 80 individuals.

Emergency potable water wagons have been deployed to:

• 1121 6 Avenue S.W.
• 1088 6 Avenue S.W.
• 912 6 Avenue S.W.
• 731 6 Avenue S.W.
• 618 5 Avenue S.W.
• Mewata Armoury, 801 11 Street S.W.

The Calgary Fire Department continues to investigate the cause of the fire. 8^th Street and 5^th Avenue S.W. remains closed.

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Mayor Naheed Nenshi says traffic should mostly be back to normal Monday morning. There will be some lane closures continuing on 8^th Street where ENMAX crews are working.

Nenshi will be talking with the province about the possibility of relief money for affected residents. He says this scenario doesn’t fit the usual criteria for disaster relief programs.

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.