HAZELWOOD, Mo–One day after an army of first responders descended on The Reserve at Winding Creek apartments to help evacuate residents from floodwaters which swept through the area, a different group of responders were on site Wednesday, as residents once again find themselves needing to leave.
A truck unloading pallets of bottled water. An American Red Cross vehicle. A Hazelwood Police officer there to deter looters. A roadside assistance crew trying without success to bring life back to flooded car engines. Tow services there to carry those cars off.
Residents who spent the night at a regional shelter or with family and friends, returned Wednesday morning to find notices on doors from the city of Hazelwood, telling them that their units were “unfit for human occupancy”. City Manager Matthew Zimmerman told Spectrum News that all the units were tagged that way because damaged or not, electricity and natural gas have been shut down for the complex.
Marcus Strauther was considering whether to sign a new lease on his first floor unit, a decision he was going to have to make next week. Now, he’s staying with family
Melanie Pork, an upstairs neighbor in the same building, doesn’t have the property loss that Strauther does, but she’s still uncertain where she’ll go next in the meantime.
"Thank God my stuff got saved, but I still have a house full of food that's gone bad. I don't have no place to stay. No place at all. I don't know what we gonna do," she said.
While tenants packed up what they could salvage into cars and U-Hauls, they were unloading their frustration. They describe little to no contact from the complex’s management, Memphis-based Multi-South Management Services, in the wake of the damage. Spectrum News contacted the company, which owns several St. Louis area properties. Zimmerman said the city was working with Multi-South on a repair schedule but that it was “unlikely residents will be permitted to return in the next few days,” in an email to Spectrum News. Multi-South has not yet responded to a message seeking comment Wednesday.
Zimmerman said the city will waive occupancy inspection fees as the apartments come back to life.
On Wednesday, St. Louis County said it was moving the regional shelter closer to the impacted area, to the James J. Eagan Civic Center in Florissant.
Strauther will spend another night with family.
“I'm blessed because a lot of people don't have anywhere to go....I'm just trying to get in here, collecting the little stuff I can, documents and stuff for my insurance, and other than that I'll be back out and back cleaning tomorrow,” he said.
