AUSTIN, Texas — Residents displaced from The Bowie apartments after an electrical incident on Sept. 18 may be without power until late October, extending a disruption that some tenants say has forced them to move between hotels and pay thousands of dollars in temporary expenses. The Austin Fire Department responded around midnight to reports of overheated wires or equipment on the building’s 33rd floor, near West Fifth and Bowie streets. An incident report says fire command staff confirmed with the building that residents of several affected apartments would be accommodated. In an email shared by a tenant, management initially said repairs would require shutting off power throughout the building and that electricity could be restored as soon as Sept. 21. A follow-up message sent Sept. 30 moved the earliest expected restoration to Oct. 23-31. RPM Living, which manages the apartments, is offering residents either a lease termination without a fee or reimbursement for displacement costs. In a message to tenants, building staff said they remained committed to supporting residents while repairs continue. The Bowie Tenants Union welcomed management’s decision to reimburse residents by check rather than issue rent credits, but said tenants still have to pay expenses upfront. The union also said reimbursements are subject to daily limits and strict receipt rules, with payments made in two installments rather than as bills arise. It pointed to high hotel prices during Austin City Limits, Formula 1 and Texas football events as adding to residents’ costs. The union also raised concerns about lease-cancellation agreements, saying they include broad releases of legal claims and restrictions on residents’ speech. The group said residents should not have to give up legal rights to leave a building it described as effectively uninhabitable, and called on ownership to reconsider RPM Living’s management of the property. RPM Living and The Bowie had not responded to requests for comment by Oct. 1. The cause of the overheating and the total number of displaced residents were not specified in the available information.