People living in a South Florida condo have less than 24 hours to move out of their homes after their building was deemed unsafe because of structure problems.
The City of Fort Lauderdale put up notices at Springbrook Gardens Wednesday, deeming the condo unsafe.
An engineer told the city's building department the foundations in one section of the building are in bad condition.
“The progressive deterioration in the western portion of the structure has made the building no longer safe," the engineer wrote.
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The city was asked to revoke the Certificate of Occupancy until necessary structural repairs can be made to ensure the safety of residents.
Tenants have to leave the building by noon Friday. They say they were caught by surprise.
“It hasn't hit me yet, it really hasn't,” Warren Sackler said. “(We were told) building is unsafe, get the hell out.”
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Several people were packing moving trucks and cars Thursday afternoon, all while feeling the impacts of Hurricane Helene.
“Today with the rain, they said the wind was more than 30 miles an hour, you have to vacate the building,” Sackler said.
Sackler has lived in the condo for a decade. He says he found a place to move into across the street, but he knows others aren't so lucky.
“I got lucked out,” Sackler said.
Sackler and other tenants say they have even more concerns about the future of their homes.
“All I'm concerned about is someone wants to buy the land and put a building up,” Sackler said.
All they can do is wait.
“You got 18 people, some people don't ever want to leave and some want to stay five months, and I said, what am I going to do, I'm done,” Sackler said.
Fort Lauderdale's Emergency Management team is standing by to provide residents with the necessary support and resources during this time.
Once the repairs are finished, the City’s Building Department will come by and inspect. A city building inspector has to confirm the building is safe to live in before residents can come back.
