By GUY BUSBY
Staff Reporter
 
ROBERTSDALE -- Three weeks after Hurricane Ivan swept through Baldwin County, residents of 37 Robertsdale apartment units found themselves the latest victims to lose their homes when their complex was ordered closed.
 
Leaks from roof and wall damage at Briarwood Estates apartments on Berner Road behind Robertsdale High School have allowed mold and mildew to grow to the point that it has become a health hazard, said managers and residents.
 
On Monday, the owners said that residents had to be out of the apartments by Sunday in order for repairs to begin, said Andy Davis, who works for Apartment Services and Management, the Auburn company that oversees the complex.
 
Residents said, however, that with most affordable rental units already taken by others who lost homes to Ivan, they have nowhere to go.
 
"They said we had to go," said resident Vickie Mims. "We had to put my mother in a retirement home so she'd have somewhere, but I don't know what I'm going to do with my kids and me."
 
Mims was packing a trailer with belongings Thursday to take to a storage unit. She said she noticed the mold shortly after the hurricane struck on Sept. 16.
 
"Everybody's got mold," she said. "It's in my apartment. It's all over."
 
She said she did not want to leave the area and force her three children and nephew who lived with her to have to change schools.
 
Lisa Brady said she plans to live with a friend until she can find another place to stay. Brady, who has lived in her apartment for two months, said she suffers from bronchitis and has had more difficulty breathing since the storm.
 
"I feel like I'm suffocating," she said.
 
Diana Moffett said her grandmother, who was sharing the apartment with Brady, had to be hospitalized with breathing problems. She said she found large patches of mold growing on the windows in her grandmother's bedroom.
 
Mary Pruitt, live-in manager of the complex, said many residents did not want to leave, but the units would have to be vacated in order for the mold to be removed.
 
"We're all having to move as soon as possible," she said. "A lot of people don't want to move. They don't think it's fair, but is it fair to their health for them to stay here?"
 
Pruitt said the complex has 40 units, but three were not occupied at the time of the storm. She said she did not know how many people lived in the apartments. Residents asked said the number of people in each unit varied from one to at least six.
 
Pruitt said residents were offered the opportunity to rent company managed apartments outside Robertsdale, but that many did not want to leave the area, because of the proximity of work and schools.
 
Pruitt said that once the apartments are again ready to be occupied, the current tenants will be able to return to their units at the same rent.
 
Davis said he did not know how long that would take.
 
Davis said inspectors hired to check the four buildings said the structures would have to be gutted and all carpets, door frames, cabinets and other interior items replaced. The spaces behind walls and ceilings would also have to be fumigated.
 
The storm winds that damaged roofs and walls allowed rain to pour into the areas behind the walls of the apartment units, said Davis. He said tenants were sent letters about two weeks ago warning that they may have to leave. Inspectors who checked the buildings, however, said all units would have to be vacated, cleaned and renovated.
 
"Nobody hates this worse than we do," he said. "We're totally without income and the bills are still coming in. The mortgage still has to be paid every month. But we can't risk the health of our tenants when we're told it's not safe."
 
 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Pure Air Control Services
800-422-7873