CLEVELAND —
Flooded floors in the Wade Park apartments in Cleveland are now frozen after tenants said pipes burst on Friday.
"It was just flooding everywhere," Shaw Crenshaw, who lives in the building, said. "Water was flooding from everywhere."
Tenants took 3News inside the building, where floors were slick in the main lobby, hallways, and right outside apartment doors.
"What about the people that [are] elderly?" Richard Pinson asked about the situation. "How can you get around this?"
Pinson has lived in the building for about five years and took us inside his apartment where water was dripping from the ceiling in his bathroom, bedroom, and living room.
The building is a Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) property. Many residents told 3News they are frustrated and concerned about their safety because they still haven't been able to get in touch with property management and don't know when the issue will be addressed.
"I feel like it should be flooded with people over here that [are] trying to resolve the problem," Pinson said.
Tenants claim the building was without heat for days, including on Christmas, so they had to use their appliances to stay warm. They add they know it's dangerous, but they didn't have another option.
"Survival tactics, trying to keep warm while we're in here, that's all we can do," Crenshaw explained.
According to CMHA's website the 16-floor property was built in 1962 with 221 total units: 185 one-bedroom and 36 two-bedroom.
"It's a big property, it's a lot of people in here, and it's a lot of people under CMHA safety, their roof, that they need to be concerned about in times like this," Pinson said, adding just because it's an affordable housing property doesn't mean the residents should be forgotten.
"This should not go unnoticed."
Speaking to 3News Wednesday, CMHA Director of Multifamily and Affordable Housing Sharhonda Greer said maintenance staff has been on site working to address the issue since it happened on Friday, and earlier this week staff members were knocking on doors to check on residents. She told us a number of other CMHA properties have also experienced similar issues.
"I am very sympathetic," Greer added. "We do apologize for the inconvenience. We are working tirelessly to restore the heat and hot water."
Greer says CMHA is taking the tenants' safety concerns of slick floors and frozen flood water into consideration as well.
"We are addressing those safety concerns, because as the temperatures warm up, that ice is going to turn into water," she noted. "We want to make sure that we're on top of that, mopping that up and getting that up as soon as that happens."
Greer advises tenants to call or visit their property manager with any concerns, or if they are seeking reimbursement for water damages to personal property.