Residents of flooded Oakland apartments hunker down at hotel
OAKLAND -- Residents of an East Oakland apartment complex haven't been able to return home since New Year's Day after storm waters flooded their garage and knocked out power to the building.
Upended from their routine and staying at a hotel, children who lived in the apartment are having a tough time as they prepare to go back to school.
"I just want to be home where I feel comfortable," said 11-year-old Sureneity Mendez Abendano who added that it has been difficult to concentrate at school. "I want to be at home where I can do whatever I want, read, be on my phone and be a kid."
The Abendano family captured video of a flooded sidewalk outside their home and inches of water covering their floor. "All the water was flooded in the garage. It looked like it was a river," Abendano said.
The garage was still flooded Thursday night, five days after the storm. According to Faviola Abendano, crews have been unable to pump out the water and the entire building is without power.
"Today I'm everything -- mostly I'm frustrated," Abendano said.
She says she hasn't been told when she might be able to return.
She feels the one good thing to come from this ordeal is that the displaced residents have come together as a community but they all just want to go back home.
"As days go by, it gets more and more frustrating because everything gets accumulated. It's not just one emotion or two. All of them are stuck and you don't know if you want to cry, be angry or anything!"
