A couple were forced to find cooler shelter at a hotel after they were faced with unbearable heat amid power outages that left them over €1,000 out of pocket.

Apart from the financial cost, the couple also had to take their cat for an emergency visit to the vet after they found him urinating blood due to dehydration.

Living in a penthouse in Sliema, Sarah (whose name has been changed under request of anonymity) and her partner lost power on Sunday afternoon.

“Our apartment gets extremely warm because there is no shade cover,” she said.

For over a week, the country battled through a heatwave, sparking a series of power outages which lasted days in certain areas. At least 11 people in Malta died between Saturday and Tuesday while suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration.

Faced with a stifling hot and powerless home, the couple began searching for hotels as they were unable to stay the night.

After finding a suitable room, the couple packed up for the night while leaving behind their cat since they decided to only spend Sunday night away from home.

Returning on Monday morning, the power was still off. Spending Monday at work, Sarah prayed that power would be restored by the time she got home that evening. It did not.

There are so many people suffering in this situation, so it is important for us to speak up

Once again, they packed their bags and booked themselves into a hotel.

“We paid over €400 for the two nights,” Sarah said, adding that they had no choice but to rely on take-away food.

In addition to expensive takeout bills, like many others faced with long power cuts, the couple was forced to dump hundreds of euros of frozen food.

After two nights in a hotel, Sarah returned home from work to find her cat in “bad shape”.

“That whole night I stayed up with the cat because he was panting and screaming,” she said.

On Wednesday, more costs were in store as Sarah rushed to the vet with her cat, costing the couple another €100.

“It turns out he now has a urinary infection and is peeing blood because he is so dehydrated,” she said.

In total, Sarah estimated that the costs over the past five days exceeded €1,000.

Calls to Enemalta were in vain and the couple’s house remained without power for another three days following the call. On Thursday afternoon, power was finally restored to their Sliema flat.

“There are so many people suffering in this situation, so it is important for us to speak up,” she said.