FLORISSANT, Mo. – Thursday marked the third straight day without water for dozens of residents of one Florissant apartment complex. As FOX 2 found out, it all could have been avoided.
The water is finally back on at the Delrado Apartments near N. Lindbergh Boulevard in Florissant, but not before residents say they had to deal with days of frustration and a lack of answers.
Neighbors tell FOX 2 the owner of the apartment complex and its management company failed to pay its bills, causing the issue. That, with a lack of communication, only made the ordeal more upsetting.
“I’ve called the office and asked, ‘Why aren’t you in the office, and why aren’t you helping us?’ No response,” resident Brenda Gan said.
Gan has lived at the complex for three years. Even after her water was turned back on Thursday, the situation upset her so much that she’s decided to move. But she has a message for the management company at the Delrado.
“You know, it’s not fair. I pay my rent on time, but you don’t pay your bills,” Gan said. “I need water.”
FOX 2 saw a similar message taped on a parking sign in front of the management office. It read, “Delrado, you get your rent on-time every month, we want water now.”
It’s a sentiment shared by residents, especially on a hot, dry early September day, such as Thursday. We ran into Janet Kuehl while she was waiting for the water to come back on.
“It’s frustrating. It truly is,” Kuehl said. “Without water in this kind of weather, it’s difficult. There are kids here, and people that have to get to work, and a shower would be good.”
Multi-South Management manages the Delrado. FOX 2 spoke to a woman named Renae, who leads the management team at Delrado. She told us they just took over the complex two weeks ago, adding that they did not know about the water issue until Thursday morning.
She blamed the unpaid water bills on the previous management company and said she got the issue fixed as soon as she could, adding that they were just as frustrated as residents.
Still, Gan and others call the whole ordeal unacceptable.
“I mean, you have to have water,” Gan said.
