Video: Weathering the Outage at the YMCA

The YMCA has been an island of power – and showers – in a very dark city.

Though Storm Alfred knocked out about 90 percent of the electricity in Meriden Saturday night, the downtown facility never lost power. Ever since, the fitness and community center has opened its doors to members and non-members, as they struggled with cold, dying electronics and frigid water in their own homes in the five days that have followed.

Hundreds of members and non-members have come through the door to shower, Fitness Director Carrie Marquardt said Wednesday.

We caught up to Marquardt and resident James Canty in the Y lobby, as the town's outage numbers hovered between 70 - 80 percent. Click the video above to see how they've been weathering the outage.