ADRIAN, Mich. — A state of emergency was declared at the Riverview Terrace Apartments building in Adrian, Michigan. The building's update hotline said the apartment cannot be occupied for months.
The city of Adrian is holding a news conference Friday at 9:30 a.m.
Robert Lawson is one of the over 200 who had to leave the apartment in a matter of hours. He is currently staying at a nearby hotel.
"I guess you learn to deal with things," Lawson said. "Some people are a lot worse off than we are. You just go with the flow and do what you can do."
Lawson said the apartment's management will soon move residents to a hotel in Dundee, Michigan, for two weeks, but beyond that point, he isn't sure where he'll be living.
"What do we do after the two weeks?" Lawson asked. "Because right now, they should be responsible to provide us a place to live."
Lawson emphasized that he doesn't hold any frustration toward Riverview's management for the issues with the building. Meanwhile, local agencies have stepped in to provide resources to the people displaced.
"Hearing that they had to be evacuated and that they couldn't go back there for quite some time, it was disheartening," Lenawee Community Foundation Director Joe Williams said. "Those individuals, that's a community."
The foundation is the official fiduciary, handling donations that will go to the displaced residents. They said they've collected about $3,000 in the first 24 hours and expect to see much more.
"When you look at the residents there, they just want to be loved, and to be appreciated," Williams said. "They want to be a part of the community. Anything we can do to help alleviate some of the stress and problems that they may have during this transition. We want to come alongside them and lift them up."
The foundation is accepting donations via PayPal on its website.