Mice feces found in Halifax apartment after evacuation order lifted

A Halifax couple who were out of their home for more than a month because of an emergency evacuation order due to a toppled construction crane came home on Monday to discover mice feces all over their apartment.

"We turned on the light and almost every surface was just covered in mouse poop and all the food that was on our shelf, like non-perishables, even like flour, sugar, oats and stuff was just completely torn into," said Rebecca Carole.

"And it was really clear the mice had been kind of living it up in there, so we just we couldn't stay." 

Carole, who has worked on the CBC show This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and her partner live in an apartment above the Eastlink building at the corner of Spring Garden Road and South Park Street.

On Monday, Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency announced the emergency evacuation order at their address had been lifted.

The building was evacuated Sept. 9 — two days after a construction crane toppled onto another nearby building during Hurricane Dorian.

Carole and her partner attempted to clean up the place, saw a few mice running around the place and then left a short time later. They were only there about 10 to 15 minutes, Carole said.

"The smell was just really intense and, you know, it just wasn't really like a healthy environment," she said.

Carole said professional cleaners are coming to their apartment on Wednesday.

She said she hasn't had a chance to speak with any neighbours to see if the same thing happened to them.

Prior to this instance, Carole said she could only recall seeing a mouse at her apartment "a couple of summers ago," but added the family cat "took care of that for us."

Carole said she has put together an expense claim and so far it's more than $1,000.

While she said it shouldn't have taken so long to get back into her apartment, she's glad the end is in sight.

"I'm just really happy to put this behind me," Carole said. "Honestly, I never thought anything like this would happen and it's definitely been a learning curve for everyone involved."