Pair tells how Fiona caved in apartment roof

It was like a bomb went off.

That’s how Tienna Mackenzie and Alex Power described the first moments of a disaster that played out at their Dartmouth apartment building in the early morning hours of Oct 1.

Hurricane Fiona was in full force. The chimney on the top of the three-storey building snapped in half, crashing through the roof then the third, second and first floor. Then the basement.

“It was horrifying,” she said. "It was like a scene out of a horror movie."

The pair live on the top floor. When Power peered outside his door, he said, he saw water pouring out into the hallway. The building’s fire alarm was going off and it was almost completely dark.

The building was evacuated at about 1 a.m., they say. At the time, Halifax fire crews were arriving at the location on Lawrence Road.

"It was chaos," said Power. "I was seeing transformers exploding outside."

The pair are temporarily staying with relatives and having no luck finding a permanent home. The other 80 or so tenants of the building were also forced out. The building has been closed indefinitely. On Sunday, Mackenzie and Power were back at the building picking up the last of their belongings. They have no intention of returning to their old apartments whenever the building reopens.

Their apartment building is one of three 42-unit complexes on Lawrence Road. About 160 people live in the other two buildings. They went without power for nearly 10 full days until Monday afternoon.

The main power line that provides electricity to the entire complex is located in the vacant building. It was also damaged and caused everyone to lose power. Nova Scotia Power said the building needed a structural assessment to make sure it was safe for crews to go inside and repair the power line.

Spokesperson Mina Atia said crews were able to safely enter and restore power to two of the buildings on

Monday afternoon. The power was restored about an hour after The Chronicle Herald sent an email to the private utility asking why the power had not been restored to the location.

A tenant of one of the undamaged buildings said he was frustrated waiting for power. He said there are several elderly tenants that were stuck in their apartments because they couldn’t climb the stairs. Without electricity, the elevator was out of order. The man asked that we not use his name for fear of retribution from his landlord. On Sunday, he said he was angry that no one from the city or the Nova Scotia government had arrived on scene and offered assistance to tenants.

"They didn’t care. You’d think there’d be a food truck for people here to get warm food.

"There are elderly people who were cold and they’re eating food out of can because they have nothing to heat it with."

The Herald asked the city and the province’s emergency management office what help they extended to tenants but they were vague in their response.

Laura Wright, spokesperson for the city, said the city’s emergency shelter that was set up at Chocolate Lake Recreation Centre closed this past Sunday. Residents were relocated by the Province of Nova Scotia to alternate accommodations.

"If you have any further questions about alternative accommodations, please reach out to the Province," said Wright.

Krista Higdon with Nova Scotia EMO said The Red Cross has been involved in providing temporary shelter and food.

She suggested the Herald speak to the Red Cross or the city about "those affected from this building."

The apartment complex is owned by Broadway Properties. Property Manager Graeme Higgs said he didn’t know when the building would be reopened and tenants could move back in.

He said a structural engineer inspected the damaged building and determined it could be salvaged. He said it would take about two weeks to clean up the damage. Then the process of restoring the rebuilding would start.

Higgs wouldn’t say whether the company compensated any of the displaced tenants. But he said none of people in the building at the time were injured.

“We’re very sorry for what happened,” said Higgs. “We did the best we could.”