Canada Day storm upends lives of flooded apartment building's residents

Tenants told it could be up to 4 weeks until property is up and running again

Micheline Markell just paid her July rent but now needs to find money for a motel and doesn't know how long she'll have to stay there.

Markell is one of the residents facing displacement from their McEwen Avenue apartment tower after Wednesday afternoon's ferocious Canada Day storm flooded the lobby and basement, cutting off the building's power supply.

Markell spent Wednesday in her ninth-floor apartment but says she was then told it was recommended she leave as crews work to restore the electricity.

She doesn't have any family she can stay with. She lost half the food in her freezer. And a box of some of her most precious belongings, including her children's baby photos, is gone too, she fears.

"That hit hard," Markell told CBC News on Friday morning.

The situation at Markell's building is just one example of the lingering effects of Wednesday's powerful rainstorm.

Environment Canada reported a total of 118 millimetres in Ottawa on July 1, making it one of the rainiest July days on record.

According to a Friday update from the City of Ottawa, Ottawa Fire Services responded to more than 700 calls related to electrical hazards, downed power lines and other storm-related emergencies.

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Nearly 2,000 basements experienced flooding as a result of the storm, the city added.

The city established an "emergency reception and lodging site" at J.A. Dulude Arena to help tenants of the McEwen Avenue apartment building.

"Multiple city services worked together to support affected residents, including Ottawa Paramedic Service personnel who assisted individuals requiring help leaving the building. Temporary accommodations were arranged for those who required them," the city stated.

In an email update to residents early Friday afternoon, Saickley Properties wrote that while it is looking to have a generator power parts of the building, it's estimated the amount of required restoration work means full power may not return for at least two more weeks.

The building's hydro vault transformer has been "totally destroyed" and will need to be rebuilt, according to the email.

"Ottawa Hydro is looking into that and will let us know of the approximate timelines involved. The best estimate provided to us now is that it will take one month to be completed.

"In any event, we are looking at 2-4 weeks before the building is up and running," the company added, noting that dates are subject to change.

In the meantime, "it is our recommendation that the tenants seek alternative accommodation until such time as the building is ready to be occupied again."

CBC News has reached out to Saickley Properties for comment.

Earlier on Friday, another tenant, Pat O'Dwyer, said he was praying he'd only be displaced for two weeks.

"It is what it is," he said of the situation. "Take it in stride. That's life."

According to Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, more than 3,200 families experienced flooding Wednesday.

As an "additional measure" beyond what has already been announced, Sutcliffe has asked the city's public works department to accept small to medium amounts of drywall and construction debris as part of the collection cycle, he said in a social media post Friday.

"These are highly unusual circumstances and we want to provide as much support as possible," according to his post.

For the next few weeks, the city will accept two garbage bins of construction material per household in the neighbourhoods affected by flooding, the mayor added.

With files from Kimberley Molina