DENVER (KDVR) — A Denver senior apartment complex is working to recover after a flood damaged 42 apartments, but some residents feel there’s more to the problem.
Vi Schultz has lived at Thomas Bean Towers for 16 years and claims their pipes are so bad they experienced numerous floods making the conditions there unlivable. The resident we spoke to claims there have been six floods within the past year, but the housing authority said that’s not the case and there’s only been four in the past two years.
“They’re putting our health in jeopardy and that’s just not right,” Schultz said.
The flood waters may be gone from just a couple of weeks ago, but the aftermath is still very much real. Fans lining the hallways, missing baseboards, water damage on the walls, and residents like Schultz are fearing how this could impact the health of residents, many of whom are disabled or elderly.
“We want to be able to live in a place where we can breathe and live and it’s really hard to do that here with all this mold and flooding,” said Schultz.
The Denver Housing Authority just did some inspections and said while they understand the frustrations, all 42 units affected by the flood are safe to live in but the full restoration is expected to take six to eight weeks.
Maintenance staff is on-site 24/7 to correct any issues for the residents, according to DHA. They also said only four units saw major damage.
Schultz said neither the building nor Denver Housing Authority offered relocation to those residents with the most damage. In fact, Schultz has started a petition to get this done, but DHA said they already offered and all residents declined to be relocated.
Schultz said changes for her can’t come fast enough.
“Each time is worse. Yes they have the restoration people come out to dry it out and that’s fine and dandy, that’s great, but that’s not what I’m concerned about. Are they going to fix the pipes and the plumbing throughout the entire building?” said Schultz.
DHA said there is also a 10 million dollar modernization revitalization project coming next year that will include the needed pipe work. Repairs are set to start Monday morning.