BAY HARBOR ISLANDS, FLA. (WSVN) - A second building in Bay Harbor Islands has been deemed unsafe, and residents have been ordered to evacuate.
The Town of Bay Harbor Islands announced that residents at a multi-story residential apartment building at 1060 95th Street have been ordered to evacuate.
“This was very sudden. ‘You have got to be out in two hours,'” resident Frank Kaltenekker said. “I was getting ready to enjoy a day off, and here I am having to run around worrying where I’m going to sleep tonight.”
Town officials said an engineer noticed several “significant structural defects” during a mandatory inspection, leading to the 73-year-old building being deemed unsafe.
Residents of the building’s nine units have since been ordered to evacuate immediately.
“The Town of Bay Harbor Islands is working closely with the building’s management company, the building’s court ordered receiver, and several charitable organizations to provide support to displaced residents and their pets,” the town said in a statement.
Officials said the building has been repeatedly cited by the town for numerous violations. However, they said the building owner has not fixed the issue.
This is the second building in Bay Harbor Islands to be evacuated in 24 hours. Wednesday night, residents at a 56-year-old building were ordered to evacuate after the building was deemed unsafe.
Chris Corrales, who lives at the Forum, returned Thursday to pick up documents and photos with his pregnant wife.
“The audacity of these people, making me [expletive] wait here,” Corrales said. “You honestly think I wanna go in there and move my stuff with a moving truck while a building is declared unsafe?”
Everyone who lived in the 24-unit building grabbed whatever belongings they could as they left.
“It’s kind of stressing because they came super fast and was like, ‘Come on, you gotta get out of the building,'” Fabiana Morales said.
Photos from the inspector’s report showed several structural issues with the building’s concrete and other damage.
Forum Building Manager Eric Pamblanco said the building is under foreclosure.
“The owner is not funding or paying any money to the property and fixing whatever needs to get done,” he said. “Right now, the judge who is set as the receiver on the property has reached out to the court systems to try to figure out what’s going on. I’m just in shock, as the tenants are, as well.”
The two evacuations come in the wake of the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South Condominium, which killed 98 people.
It remains unclear if the residents who call the Forum home will be allowed to return.
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