Residents of flooded Winnipeg apartment building searching for new homes amid repairs

Posted on August 27, 2024 by Peggy

Some tenants forced out by flooding at a downtown Winnipeg apartment building a week ago need a new place to live.

Water started spewing from a pipe last Monday on the 12th floor of the the 25-storey highrise, part of the Holiday Towers complex, forcing 230 people out of the building.

Now, a number of tenants have been told they can’t stay in their units while the property manager makes repairs.

“Because they have to do a big job, they don’t know where there could be moisture damage and then you’re going to have mould,” said Ramona Wiebe, who has lived in her unit on the fifth floor for 19 years.

On Monday, Wiebe says she got a call from WRE Development, which manages the building. She says she was told the repairs could take months.

For Wiebe, living downtown meant being close to friends and amenities — leaving means losing those connections and convenience. It may also mean giving up her carefully cultivated balcony garden, with a variety of plants, fruits and vegetables.

“I don’t want to give up my food. This is my food to eat for the next two months,” she said.

“It’s a little, but it’s still a lot. And am I going to be able to find a place to keep my garden? I can’t live without a garden. I’ll go cuckoo clock, I just know it.

CBC News spoke to two other tenants who say they have been told they cannot stay in their units.

It’s not clear how many people have to find new places to live.

At the time of the flooding, the city said it was helping 24 people with temporary housing.

CBC News asked the property manager how many people had to leave and for how long. The company hasn’t responded to CBC’s questions.

Winnipeg police have been investigating the cause of the flooding, but say no arrests have been made.

Wiebe says she’s trying remain optimistic.

“I don’t want to have to move yet. But I’ll make my new neighbourhood my new neighbourhood, I’ll find everything I need and carry on.”

Wiebe says the company told her she would have the option to move back into her suite once it’s fixed, but that could be months, and she doesn’t know where she will go in the meantime.