Many homes still in ruins from last year's hurricanes

Thousands of residents forced out of hurricane-damaged residences

still aren't back home.

Article Courtesy of The Miami Herald

By AMY SHERMAN AND DARRAN SIMON

Published May 1, 2006

Six months after Hurricane Wilma left more than 5,000 Broward homes and condos uninhabitable, at least 1,500 are still are not ready to live in.

Even among units now considered habitable, many still need major repairs like walls and roofs. But the number of units in the worst shape -- those that remain uninhabitable -- could be higher, since no one is keeping tabs countywide.

That's a scary prospect with the June 1 start of hurricane season just weeks away. If Broward gets hit with another weather wallop, buildings that aren't fixed could get damaged even worse.

There are lots of reasons that repairs aren't finished yet: A shortage of building inspectors, supplies and labor. Red tape with insurance companies. Long lines at city building departments to get permits. The severity of the damage.

Meanwhile, displaced residents are suffering the anxiety of not knowing when they can go home. Some are struggling financially.

Andrea Hall pays more than $1,000 a month for storage, her mortgage and maintenance fees for a condo in Southgate Gardens in Tamarac while she stays with her mother nearby. Hall checks on the construction progress daily and is frustrated.

''My hands are tied,'' said the 44-year-old customer service representative. ``It's like I can't do anything. It's real stressful.''

Some of the displaced residents are low- and moderate-income seniors sleeping on friends' couches or floors because they can't afford to rent a place. Others are poor families tucked away in temporary trailer parks or moderate income families just making it.

''Their money is running out, '' said Bill Raphan, assistant state condo ombudsman. ``Do we want a bunch of 85-, 90-year-old people homeless? Who is going to be responsible for that?''

Though the exact number of uninhabitable homes is unknown, building officials in cities like Lauderhill and Tamarac said that most of the units they declared uninhabitable remain that way.

City officials in Sunrise say more than half of their original uninhabitable units, about 350, aren't ready for occupancy. Other cities like Oakland Park expect the units to ready by June for this hurricane season.

And even when a building moves off the uninhabitable list, it doesn't necessarily mean it's back to normal.

Once a roof is replaced and the building doesn't leak, the building department considers it safe, said Dean Decker, Lauderdale Lakes building official. But the interior walls may still need to be redone.

''It could still have ceilings falling in, a lot of mildew,'' he said.

CITIES SWAMPED

Sandy Laguna, a Pembroke Pines building official, says cities had compiled lists of uninhabitable structures after the hurricane to help government agencies determine how much temporary housing Broward needed. But they haven't had time to go back and revisit those lists. Cities have been swamped handling permits for roof repairs and other matters on thousands of homes with minor damage -- along with buildings with major damage, he said.

''We are so overburdened with inspecting roofs and a lot of people getting hurricane shutters, too, and other normal business that we don't have time to be going back and reassessing these things,'' Laguna said.

Numbers from the federal and county government agencies provide some clues as to how many people have struggled to find places to live since Wilma.

As of mid-April, about 460 FEMA trailers and mobile homes were occupied.

Broward County placed about 18 families in apartments in Pembroke Pines and has helped about 130 households with temporary housing needs through its Housing First program.

In Sunrise Lakes Phase 3, one of Broward's worst-hit developments, residents and the condo association attorney disagree on whether the pace of repairs is normal.

Some residents say the company that the condo board hired, Connecticut-based Woods Restoration Services, wasn't up to the job. They say the dates their buildings are supposed to be ready keep getting pushed back, and question why they see so few workers when they drive around the complex.

Woods Restoration did not return numerous phone calls. But Steven Weinberg, attorney for the condo association, says repairs are proceeding well.

He emphasizes the magnitude of the project: The repairs, which encompass about 600 units, will total more than $32 million.

In less than six months, Woods replaced the roofs, although that piece of the project won't be considered done until it passes city inspection, Weinberg said. But some units are gutted and also need extensive interior work.

The units should be finished by July or August, Weinberg said.

''Are there disgruntled unit owners? Yes. Do I think they are unfounded? Yeah, I do,'' he said. ``We attempted to do as good of a job as we can under the circumstances.''

Weinberg says many residents ask questions about the repairs, but only about two dozen residents in Sunrise Lakes are complaining about the speed of the repairs.

''He's so full of baloney,'' says resident Lucille Hochman, who can't move back into her condo yet. ``You come to a meeting and there's hundreds of people at the meeting. They're all asking the same questions. . . . They're complaining.''

SUFFERING RESIDENTS

Even those Sunrise Lakes residents who have money to pay for another apartment are suffering.

Hochman says the health of her 60-year-old husband Mark, a diabetic, has gotten worse since the hurricane. He has been staying in bed more and has had three surgeries. They are now living in another apartment courtesy of their insurance company, but she misses socializing with her neighbors, ceramics class and going to the pool.

''It has marked all of us,'' she says.

Some displaced residents have repeatedly moved because they've run out of money or don't want to overstay their welcome.

Roland Bonnell, 67, says he moved into his fourth place recently since his two-bedroom condo in Hawaiian Gardens in Lauderdale Lakes was declared uninhabitable. ''I got to the point that I almost forgot that I lived here,'' Bonnell, the building treasurer, said as he stood in his condo, which has no walls or ceilings.

Meanwhile in Lauderhill's Stonebridge Gardens, $18 million in damages has forced the Frank family to rent a house in Wilton Manors while their one-bedroom condo is repaired.

Ian Frank, 33, picked up extra hours at his sales job at a home improvement store to afford the $825 monthly rent in Wilton Manors and his $700 mortgage and condo fees. The Franks bought the place four years ago. Ian, his pregnant wife, Shanta, and 1-year-old daughter Ishaa are all eager to go home.

''We got married and we grew into it,'' Ian Frank said. ``No matter how big or how small it was, it was home.''

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