Progress made in Edison, N.J. ceiling collapse repairs. Here's the latest on when residents can return.
EDISON, N.J. -- Some families forced out of their apartments by a ceiling collapse in Edison, New Jersey, on Friday are now being allowed back into their homes.
Contractors spent Sunday making repairs to dozens of homes at Evergreen Meadows apartment complex and one by one buildings started to reopen. Because of the collapses, 12 of the 13 buildings on White Birch Road were evacuated on Friday after they were deemed unsafe due to structural problems, displacing hundreds of people.
Fire Chief Andrew Toth said three buildings will remain closed and he's hoping to have them reopened by Monday.
"We got a lot of progress today and it's done to the safe manner that we want," Toth said, adding more than 200 people will be staying in a hotel on Sunday night. "Out of 13 buildings, every building can be occupied except for buildings 5, 9, 10."
Here's what happened on Friday
The weekend repairs were needed because two ceilings in separate apartments collapsed within one week. The first incident happened on Aug. 3, and the other on Friday.
Pictures form inside shows one of the collapsed ceilings in a living room.
Two residents experienced minor injuries to their head and legs when the collapses happened.
The complex has put up displaced residents at three area hotels.
"It's difficult for us"
On Saturday, more work was done and impacted residents found their ceilings patched up. However, Edison Mayor Sam Joshi said the work done was not up to code and that's why none of the apartments passed inspection.
"It could have been a combination of the age of the buildings, the heat from the attic ... nails to expand ... various reasons," Joshi said.
Now, contractors are redoing the work and while those repairs are being finished, residents are waiting for any word on when they can get back in.
Resident Jenisha Parikh said the last few days living in a hotel were "a bit messy," adding, "We weren't sure what was happening. Nothing was clear."
Naresh Lodha lives in building 9.
"We are still waiting and on standby [for] when do we get the notification on moving," Lodha said. "After a traumatic weekend, very stressful weekend, I don't know how it's going to be at my work day tomorrow."
"Today is my son's birthday, so you know. And we have all arrangements done at the house, and now it's somehow we need to be kind of wrapped it up in a smaller number of guests and everything," another resident said.
"It's difficult for us. It's difficult for the kids because it's summer vacation and they are not able to stay at home," resident Bala Perumal said.
