SOUTHGATE, Mich. (WXYZ) — Residents of the Southgate Apartments on Quarry St. say they've been without water and dealing with flooded apartments since Christmas morning.
Cell phone video shows residents walking in puddles in the hallways and sink faucets spraying water inside of units.
"It was like 5:45 in the morning and I woke up to water droplets on my face. Then I woke up, got out of bed and my floor was wet. I went in the living room and it just sounded like a rainforest in there," said Mariah Loving, who lives in the building where the flooding happened.
Loving and her roommate, Ajani Williams, say they decided to stay at a hotel after their 3rd-floor apartment flooded this weekend.
"Mats are floating. There’s furniture floating. Everything is all over the place. People are evacuating. Nobody is answering the phone," said Loving.
Jessica Ball says while no water came into her apartment, she has no running water.
"We can’t flush our toilets. I had to get a five-gallon water jug from my dad to be able to pour into my toilet to flush the toilet if there was an emergency or something," said Ball.
Residents say immediately after their apartments flooded or they realize the water was not running, they tried to call the emergency maintenance phone number provided by their apartment complex. Several residents say they couldn't make contact, were hung up on or given no resolution. Dozens of residents showed up to the leasing office Monday morning in an attempt to get answers but the doors were locked and there didn't appear to be anyone working inside.
A technician from Roto Rooter also stood outside of the leasing office doors Monday morning. He told 7 Action News crews he was called by a resident but could not get in touch with anyone from management in order to get into the units.
7 Action news also attempted to contact the management office for answers about what happened and when residents could expect a fix. As of 4 p.m. Monday, there was no response to calls or emails. While residents were told the leasing office would be open at 9 a.m. Monday, there was no one inside for much of the afternoon.
"It’s just very unprofessional and it just lacks sympathy for your residents. You’re supposed to be able to communicate," said Ajani Williams as she stood outside of the locked leasing office.
Residents say having to deal with dangerous flooding with no answers from management is unfair.
"I mean yesterday was Christmas, you know. Thankfully, I have family that lives close and we were able to stay at their house most of the day yesterday but I know there’s people that were stuck here all day with no water. There’s people with children, with pets. It’s just not an ideal situation," said Ball. "I would just like to know why they haven’t made this a priority. We pay a lot of money to live here and they’re not doing anything for the residents."
