Red Cross opens shelter after apartments lose power during severe cold
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Electricity was restored by Friday evening to most units at Meridian Apartments, a northside apartment building, but not all of them.
The power went out Thursday morning, leaving many people in the dark and cold as temperatures dipped into the single digits.
News 8 spoke with a few of those struggling to stay warm.
The Indiana Region of the American Red Cross said Friday night it would open a shelter for residents who have been displaced due to the power outage. The shelter will be at the JTV Hill Center at 1806 Columbia Ave. A Red Cross team was on scene earlier Friday to provide blankets, snacks and water while residents sheltered in place. The team continued to work Friday night with emergency officials to assess further need.
Red Cross will provide feeding, health services and mental health services to displaced residents at the shelter.
About 2 p.m. Friday, a spokesperson with TWG Development said AES Indiana had repaired a broken fuse but found a problem with the entire breaker at Meridian Apartments, 1 E. 36th St. According to a statement from TWB Development, crews installed parts needed to fix the power outage, and that power has been restored for all but 15 units to avoid another outage due to the current state of the breakers.
However, residents told News 8, the initial power outage had them afraid because they didn’t know what to do or how long they would be without power, heat, and hot water.
“Today, for lack of a better term, is damn cold,” said Janet Bluefield.
“Everybody doesn’t have the luxury of getting a hotel. Everybody doesn’t have the luxury to go over to a family member’s house. So who is to say when this is over, they’ll reimburse for that?” said a resident who chose to remain anonymous.
The property manager issued a statement: “Our main priority is the health and safety of residents. We’re working with residents to ensure they have a warm place to stay with working heat and electricity as we determine next steps forward.”
AES Indiana issued the following statement Monday:
“AES Indiana responded to a power outage that affected the Meridian and 36th Street apartments on the morning of Thursday, January 6. Power was restored quickly and safely to the circuit that impacted this location. AES Indiana was called back to the site later in the day on January 6, and notified the customer of an internal issue discovered with the facilities main breaker, not a transformer as previously reported. AES Indiana crews were called out two other times on January 7 to support the apartment’s electricians request to disconnect service to the facility and unlock meters so internal equipment issues could be addressed. While this issue is internal and not the responsibility of AES Indiana, we have revisited the site multiple times, to assist including this morning.”
– AES Indiana