Some evacuated downtown tenants able to return, others await word a week after flood

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/08/2024 (775 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some tenants of a flooded downtown Winnipeg apartment complex were able to return home Monday, but others are still waiting to hear about the fate of their Holiday Towers suites, having received little information from building management.

About 230 residents were evacuated from the north building (170 Hargrave St.) of the twin-tower 25-storey complex on Aug. 19. Tenants of suites on the 14th floor and higher were allowed to return to their apartments two days later.

As of Monday, a notice on property manager WRE Development’s web page indicated that contractors had updated the status of suites on floors 2-12, and tenants should contact the complex office to find out about specific suites.

Evacuee Michelle Szajewski still hadn’t heard whether she could return to her eighth-floor suite Monday afternoon after a week of uncertainty, she told the Free Press.

“(Tenants) are so frustrated,” she said.

Calls to WRE Development were not returned Monday.

Firefighters found a standpipe on the 12th floor had been dislodged and left open. The pipe connects to fire hoses and is used as a water supply to fight fires.

The water was running for an undetermined amount of time and affected the building’s critical infrastructure, including electricity, Winnipeg Fire Paramedic deputy chief Jason Shaw said on Aug. 19.

The investigation into the circumstances of the flood is ongoing and no arrests have been made, Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson Const. Claude Chancy said Monday.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca