Residents in East St. Paul say they are left with burned and shorted appliances after a bizarre power surge – despite using surge protectors.
People on Elkhart Lane are waiting to hear back from Manitoba Hydro after the neighbourhood experience a power surge last Thursday.
Kathy Demski was asleep when the power outage started around 3:30 a.m., but when it came back on, she heard a loud bang.
“My stove was starting to smoke from the back so I’m looking at it, going ‘What do I do?’
“When it stopped I called my neighbour … he came over and he pushed one of the buttons in the front and the smoke really started coming out,” she said.
Manitoba Hydro’s Bruce Owen said they believe “because of the weather, we had equipment failure and a line came down and then touched another line and that may have caused a power surge.”
The power surge left many residents with hefty bills to pay. Joe Cistarelli’s furnace was off for about a day and a half.
“We noticed our in floor heating wasn’t working and the control board in my electric heater was gone,” said Cistarelli. “Two of our Shaw boxes were not working and the surge protector on our control panel is obviously not working anymore.”
Cistarelli was told by Manitoba Hydro to fix the life essentials but get quotes for all the remaining needs.
“Some people are doing the same thing I’m doing and there’s a rumour … hydro wasn’t going to be reimbursing people because there was so much damage. They were going to say it was an act of God somehow,” Cistarelli said.
Manitoba Hydro said 3,000 people were affected by the surge and are urging those people to contact them or their insurance company.
They haven’t said whether customers will be reimbursed for damaged electronics.
“Anyone who’s had a power outage and thinks a power surge has damaged their equipment can call us at 204-480-5900 and they can talk to a representative,” Owen said.
Hydro suggests all residents to use surge protectors on their electronics as a safe practice.
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