HURON, Ohio — Dozens of people who lived in the Sandpiper Cove apartments in Huron are searching for a new home after flooding from last week's storms damaged their apartments to the point they've been condemned.
WTOL 11 met with 12 residents outside of the apartment Tuesday who explained what had happened.
They said they all lived on the basement level of the complex and over the course of the last two weeks, heavy rains caused their sewage lines to back up twice, causing nauseating water to soak into their carpets, furniture and all over their items.
"We were over top of our ankles in water," said Melissa Leib, one of the displaced residents.
It got so bad that property owner Monarch Investment took action.
"They came and knocked on our doors, told us we had to leave the premises and told us they would put us up in a hotel until Monday while they rectified the situation," said another displaced resident who asked be identified as "J."
But on Monday, Monarch notified residents of the condemnation via email.
"We got the notice ... that it was condemned, and we were homeless," Leib said.
Monarch also stopped paying the residents' hotel bills and told them they had until Sept. 5 to retrieve their items or they would be declared abandoned.
Displaced resident Stephanie Perkins invited WTOL to follow her around her apartment as she gathered her belongings. The stench of mildew overpowered the apartment as massive fans were running in an attempt to try to dry out the carpets. As she got closer to her bedroom, her feet audibly squished into the carpet.
The residents are grabbing their items while they still can, but finding their next place to live is another challenge. None of the 12 residents WTOL spoke with knew where they would be living in 30 days.
J said he understands why the situation forced the apartments to be condemned.
"Mold and all that stuff, I get that. I get why they terminated our leases," he said. "But what I don't get is why they only gave us 24 hours' notice that we're homeless."
WTOL 11 reached out to Monarch for comment. The person on the other end of the line said they were all set and hung up the phone.