Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTornado's effectMore than a year ago, a tornado hit the Doux Chene apartments In College tlon, causing more than S4 million In damage. ornado's e ect still felt One year later, apartment com lex is recov ' p erin~ By JANET PHELPS Eagle Staf'f' Writer Repairs on a College Station apartment complex are nearly com- plete one year after a tornado caused more than $4 million in dam- age and displaced more than 100 res- idents. But the road to recovery has been twice as expensive as originally esti- mated, according to the complex's owner, Glenn Wyant, who said he's lost $250,000 in business due to the ongoing construction that kept more than. 50 units vacant for a year. "It's been a very frustrating year," he said, adding that the units should open in less than two weeks. "It's been very stressful not know- ing exactly when we're going to get that last amount of money." The Fl tornado that hit about 3:30 p.m. Dec. 29, 2006, tore the roofs off of two Doux Chene apartment build- ings and seriously damaged two oth- ers. No one was injured in the storm, although about 160 units were evacuated and many residents were housed temporarily at the Lin- coln Center across town. Still, the most extensive damage happened during the weeks follow- ing the tornado when rain drenched the exposed apartments, causing damage to walls, flooring ar4d appli- ances, Wyant said. In all, 56 apartment units had to be gutted and rebuilt, he said, adding that winds damaged every ~~ 5 the nest 1~ve found so far," she said. Despite apartment man- agers' efforts to keep resi- dents like Lara-Gomez from leaving during the construc- tion, occupancy at the 352- unit complex is down to 80 percent from the normal 90 percent to 95 percent, Wyant. said. He said officials originally estimated repairs at $2 mil- lion, but the final cost was more than twice that amount: So far, he said, insurance has paid about $2.5 million. Wyant said he paid the remainder "out of pocket" but still is hoping the two companies that insured the apartments against tornado damage will pay the full amount. Doux Chene Apartments are insured for hail, fire, tor- nado and earthquake dam- age, he said. An earthquake will proba- bly hit sometime this year, he joked, since that's the only disaster the apartments are insured for that hasn't hap- . pened yet. "I don't think we have plague insurance. So at least we're safe from that," he said. rooftop air-conditioning unit in the complex. An Fl torna- do carries hurricane-force winds .that can reach 112 mph and can even blow vehicles off a road, according to the National Weather Service. Lora Lara-Gomez on Mon- day easily recalled what hap- pened: She was standing on the porch outside her Doux Chene apartment with her 24- year-old son when they saw the tornado coming toward them. The two ran inside and ducked under the bar just as the winds ripped the roof off of their apartment, the 48- year-old said. "We barely got the door shut," she said. "It was rain- ing all over. Everything was leaking." The tornado was the third - and worst -natural disas- ter to hit the apartments ip the past three years, Wyant said, detailing the count: A fire that started when Doux Chene was hit by lightning burned down half an apart- ment building two years ago, he said. A hailstorm the year before caused extensive dam- age, he said. Each of those disasters caused about $120,000 in dam- age to the more than 30-year- old apartments, he said. Lara-Gomez witnessed all three while living in the com- plex, she said. She's had to move each time but has stayed because she thinks the apartments offer a good deal, she said.