Sharjah: Repeated power outages have wrecked electrical appliances in residential buildings, and families are warily bracing themselves for another outage.
The power cut that affected nearly all the residential, commercial and industrial areas in the city for almost three days was finally ended on Sunday afternoon, to the relief of residents.
Much to their surprise, most of their electrical appliances were no longer working properly and must be either fixed or replaced.
"The AC was not working properly in one room and the freezer is broken as well. I think when the electricity went back on it damaged all the electrical items in the house," said M. Harris, who lives in Industrial Area 17.
Other residents also pointed out that they were too scared to use elevators for fear of getting stuck, and have resorted to using the stairs as a safer alternative.
"I am worried about restocking the fridge because we might get a power cut again, and everything will go bad. Right now, my wife and I have decided to buy the groceries on a daily basis because we do not want to take any chances and lose more money than we already have," said Ahmad, a resident of Industrial Area 11.
"The last couple of days have been awful and it is an experience I do not want to go through again. I hope that the power problem has been solved by now because it was a relief for my child to be able to study for his examinations at home, and not worry about staying at home alone without any electricity," said Abdul Rahim, a resident of Industrial Area 1.
