After hearing about the evacuation of the Lindley Court Apartments in Logan, I decided to go see for myself if anything was being done to house the 200 residents and get the complex back up and running.
As I walked around the building, I nodded to the guards watching the doors for trespassers. A group of people was being escorted out of the building after collecting a few more of their belongings from the soon-to-be boarded up building. Several contractors were milling about the building tossing around plans for rehab and waiting for the "OK" to begin reconstruction.
At one point, a young black man approached me and asked if I was with the news, and if so, I should try to do something about what's going on here. He divulged to me that he is one of the many who were put out of a home. He and his "Grandmom" are now staying around the corner in a room that was offered to them when they were evacuated. He asked if I had a bottle of water to give him, which I did.
After asking around from a few more people that were milling about the building and chatting with the guards, I learned that many of the residents had complained to the landlord of the unsanitary conditions of the buildings. "The hallways," said one passerby, "reeked of urine and the whole place was infested with rodents and bugs."
Walking around the building, I noticed many missing doors and broken windows on the upper floors as well as along the sidewalk. One of the broken windows may have made way for one of the intruders who store the copper piping. I'm very interested in talking to more of the residents who were living in this building and finding out what the plans are for rehab. This incident just shows that it doesn't take a hurricane to put people out of their homes. Simple neglect by the landlord and lack of respect of the facilities by those who live was enough in this case.
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