Residents forced to leave unsafe condo building in Fort Lauderdale
FORT LAUDERDALE - Residents at Springbrook Gardens on the Intracoastal were forced to evacuate their condo building after it was deemed unsafe.
They loaded furniture into their vehicles on Friday.
Saltwater has taken its toll on the building that is more than 70 years old.
"It hasn't hit me yet," Warren Sackler, who has lived in the building since 2007, said.
Sackler stuffed belongings into a grocery cart a friend helped wheel across them the street to a temporary apartment.
He's still in shock after the condos-hired engineer found problems with the building's foundation and ordered residents to "vacate."
"He said the building is gonna fall down. It's condemned," Sackler said.
The engineer wrote in a letter Tuesday to residents because "deterioration has made the building no longer safe," he was "revoking their safe for occupancy letter" issued in July .
Initially residents were told to be out by Friday. But on Thursday when winds were topping 30 miles per hour from Hurricane Helene, the engineer said residents should leave immediately.
The residents made a hasty retreat to hotels and friends' houses.
In the meantime, condo board president Tom Murphy said he hired two different engineers to look at the foundation
"They inspected the underground and said the building will not collapse," Murphy said. "It is a fixable situation."
The city building department still has to approve the fix.
Residents have already been assessed tens of thousands of dollars for inspections and repairs
And in the meantime residents can't stay in their units
Lorraine Murphy and her husband were helping their daughter plan her wedding when the order came.
Leaving is stressful for them.
"The new engineer said there is no peril. Of course there is damage from salt water," Murphy said.
The cost to fix the foundation could top a million dollars, and that worries Sackler.
"That's just the start, Sackler said. "We need a new roof so there's no end."
Residents hope if the city approves the fix they will be able to live in the building while a construction company shores up the foundation
But it's not clear when residents will be allowed to return