It’s been a long, dark day for many in Ottawa, including business owners trying to stay open.
As of Tuesday morning, Hydro Ottawa said about 3,500 customers were still without electricity and the outage map reported that some city residents could not be restored until next Friday.
“It’s been a non-stop nightmare,” said Mateo Cherkaoui of the steam shop Sir Vape A Lot as he stood in front of the company’s location on Merivale Road near Meadowlands Drive.
“We lost energy in two other places. That was the only one that hasn’t come back yet, and it’s literally been a relentless struggle, trying to keep it open.”
Sir Vape A Lot has resorted to plugging in the car’s batteries to operate essentials such as the payment machine, the fire alarm and its “open” sign. (Natalia Goodwin / CBC)
The store was still dark on Monday afternoon, but customers continued to come in because the business has used car batteries, generators that power their routers, the fire alarm and an open sign, Cherkaoui said.
“Just so people really know we’re open. And then we did some tweaking – handmade signs just to make sure it’s visible from the street,” he said.
Cherkaoui said they eventually went on to use more car batteries because it cost about $ 50 a day to run the generator.
Just down the line from the mall itself, Vivian Flowers has empty latents currently dormant.
Owner Vivian Do has to pick up fresh produce from her supplier every day, take it back to her store to assemble and deliver it herself. This is also one of the busiest times of the year: it’s graduation season.
“It’s been very hard. Last week I had a prom, and some of them are canceling and some are still keeping order. And I’ve been working in a dark place and doing bouquets, it’s not easy,” he said. .
“Every day I hope that power [goes] a … many businesses out there have the same problem, so I feel bad for all the business in Merivale. “
Vivian Do, owner of Vivian Flowers, has to transport fresh flowers from her supplier to her store every day to work on them. (Natalia Goodwin / CBC)
Slower path for some
Even after the electricity has returned, the road to reopening is not easy for some companies.
This is the case with both Host India restaurant locations. Power ran out of electricity for two days at the Gloucester location, and the Montreal Road site had to be managed for nine days until the lights came back on Sunday night.
However, it will still take at least three days to get started.
“It’s like opening a new restaurant. It’s starting from scratch,” owner Ravinder Tumber told CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning.
He has to re-supply entire restaurants, including meats and produce, and then prepare the food from the cut to the marinade and making sauces.
Tumber said he bought ice worth $ 500 to try to save most of his product during the outage, but estimates that the losses have reached $ 200,000 between the product and the loss of revenue.
“I have three weddings and four outdoor caterings that I have to cancel.” He said
Tumber is still waiting to hear from your insurance company about how much it will cover.