Apartment homes without power for more than 24 hours
Tenants of the Island Pointe apartment complex are left in the dark. It’s the same complex that saw an intense fire ripping through one if its building, leaving it a complete loss. Now, all the buildings are still without power.
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“It’s tough and I never expected this,” Michelle Jinks said.
The power has been out for all tenants in every building here for over 24 hours. It was turned off by JEA, at the request of JFRD, for safety concerns.
Shortly after that, a fire ripped through one of its buildings leaving it a complete loss in the midst of Tropical Storm Nicole.
With no word on when power is coming back on, it leaves many tenants like Michelle Jinks looking for help.
Read: ‘I’m blessed to be alive’: Northside home severely damaged after neighboring tree crashes down
“Thank God I’m born and raised here in Jacksonville. I have relatives I could stay maybe for a couple days or so but that’s about it, after that I have to fend for myself unless we get word our power comes on,” she said. “Red Cross came out going to try and give us some kind of assistance.”
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She said she lived in the building right next to the fire, where the Red Cross told Action News Jax they’ve started assistance for 14 people. They have also left messages with five more families while one family declined assistance.
“After they let us go in I was able to go inside the apartment in it and check and it was smoky, real smoky,” she said.
Other tenants like one person who didn’t want to be identified, says frustration is building over what they describe as a lack of communication.
“I understand if they’re not sure when power will be flipped back on but tell us they have to know if it’s going to be a couple days, a week,” they said.
Photos: Hurricane Nicole pummels Florida coastline
This neighbor said they’re trying to stick it out, but their roommate wasn’t able to.
“My roommate had to be relocated because of some health concerns for her,” they said.
Action News Jax walked into the leasing office for a comment and was told they’re working with JEA and the state fire marshal to fix the issues. An electrician was there, and they’re trying to let residents know what to do and that they understand. They did not provide a timeline to us.
JEA told Action News Jax they still haven’t received a request for reconnection yet, which they say comes from the customer.
Tenants like Jinks are hoping for a solution.
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“Just let us know what’s going on with the residents, whether it’s safe to stay out here and what we have to do,” she said.
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