A dozen Delta residents, who were frozen and flooded out of their homes during January’s cold snap, are still waiting for repairs to be done so they can go back home and resume their lives.
In the meantime, they’ve made friends in their temporary home at the Coast Tsawwassen Inn, where they wait and watch and help each other through a tough time that drags on.
“It’s become a little community of people. Everyone has a different story and we’re sharing stories,” said Alexis MacPherson.
A water pipe in the fire sprinkler system in her first-floor Ladner condo burst on Jan. 13, when the deep freeze descended on Delta and temperatures plunged to -16 C that day.
She’s been in the hotel since Jan. 14 and likely won’t move home until May.
The water went every where and she’ll have to replace the flooring and walls in her suite but is still waiting for repairs to begin.
“When it comes to damage, I used to think about earthquakes, water breaching the dike … but after this, I’ve realized that water damage can come from your pipes, dishwasher, your upstairs neighbour’s hot water tank,” MacPherson said. “And when I get back home, I’m going to do everything I can to prevent it from happening again.”
Her condo in Ladner was just one of several complexes damaged by frozen, then bursting water pipes.
Almost 20 residents who were made homeless for the same reason moved into the Coast Tsawwassen in January with some of those then relocating to Air BnBs.
“We’re all waiting and we’re waiting for work to get done but we’re making the best of it,” she said.
Coast Tsawwassen held a reception last week for the displaced residents so everyone could meet the staff.
“The Coast Tsawwassen made us feel like a family and it feels like home to us,” she said. “It’s not like we’re in a war-torn country, right? It’s nice here, but they’ve made it so much nicer, and I’ve made some friends. And we’re all happy when we see each other at breakfast.”
MacPherson said one of the condo complexes that had burst pipes will now have water sensors in all units.
She’s going to do the same for all units in her building. The sensors are located near appliances and sound an alarm if there’s a leak. Some of those devices can also connect to a cellphone so people are informed even if they’re not home.
She’ll also hand out some leaflets that show other residents in the building how to turn off the water in their building and suites.
“Prevention. I don’t want this to happen again and not for anybody,” she said.
The hotel has been flexible with billing, as some residents try to sort out insurance and has also allowed them to bring in their pets, such as MacPherson’s parrot.
Rob Harju is also waiting for repairs to begin on his Tsawwassen condo after a fire sprinkler pipe on the roof burst because of the cold weather. Five units must be repaired in his building, a process which will take place all at the same time, although it increases the time he’s out of his home. One insurance agent told him that building codes are not up to the extreme weather caused by climate change.
He used to work in construction and said that on the upper attic and parking levels of his building the fire sprinkler systems and pipes are dry and only fill with water when activated but said that other floors with residential units also should be dry instead of being filled with pressurized water.
“It makes no sense to me at all. It puzzles me why the insurance companies wouldn’t press for this, so there are ways to do it. They could have avoided all of this,” he said.
