With thousands of residents still in the dark, some are trying to find the willpower to overcome another weekend of disruptions.
In one of the hardest hit areas of the city, right next to Merivale Road, a condominium with many elderly residents is still without electricity and hot water.
A security generator sheds some light on the dark corridors of the Westpark condominium building in Parkwood Hills, but residents are struggling.
People used the lighthouses to find their way to a common area of the building known as the party hall, which quickly became a place of comfort after the storm.
“There were people crying and shaking and others who took it as if it was comforting to talk to people,” said Barbara Thompson, chair of the condominium board.
The generator provides limited power in this building of about 200 units and more than 300 inhabitants.
“After the tornado in 2018, we decided to put emergency energy in our party room,” Thompson said. “The party room is open, we’re having coffee and you can charge your cell phones.”
“If we didn’t have that, I don’t know what we would do,” said Laurie Hanson, a resident.
Many people living here are older and need refrigerated medicine and the help of personal support workers.
“A generator lift went off, I was thinking of calling the fire department to get people up the stairs,” Thompson said.
The storm hit the building hard and there was a terrifying moment when a maintenance platform crashed to the ground.
“A swing stage lifted six floors, cut down a tree and then crashed into the building,” Thompson said. “I’ve never been so scared in my life, it was scary.”
The platform crashed into a fifth-floor unit window, but no one was in the room at the time.
As the cleaning continues, the energy is expected to return soon.
“I don’t know how I’m going to deal, I really don’t know how,” Hanson said. “I could have gotten it today, maybe tomorrow morning, but the thought of tomorrow, Sunday and Monday, like what I’m going to eat.”
Frustration and sadness as people here mark seven days without light or hot water.