Carport collapse at Lansing senior facility damages cars
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – On Tuesday, a carport serving residents of Colonial Woods Senior Community in southwest Lansing collapsed, damaging at least seven vehicles.
One 57-year-old woman, who didn’t want to be identified, says the collapse damaged a car that’s a treasure from her past.
She says a 1996 Chevy Caprice she owns was the last thing she possessed from her late father. He passed away in 2005.
“And it just breaks my heart knowing this is the only thing I have left of my parents,” she tells 6 News.
The carport supports appear to have fallen on her car when the structure collapsed Tuesday. There are dents and scratches visible.
“She starts up every morning,” the woman says of the car. “No matter how hot, how cold it is.”
The car is particularly sentimental for her because it was the first brand-new car her father ever purchased.
“My mom had to talk him into it as a retirement gift to himself because he worked 47 years building these vehicles,” she says. Coming from the island of Puerto Rico, he was on top of the world. It was a great accomplishment for him.”
The woman says she lives on disability – meaning she has a limited income and very tight budget. She says she only has basic insurance on the car.
“If my insurance company rejects it, and at the same time my rates go up…” she says. “This is a little bit more than just a couple of dings.”
Krimson Management Company, that oversees the community, says the collapse is a result of heavy snow. The woman’s Caprice is one of at least seven damaged.
A spokesperson for the management company says the incident was “an act of God.”
The woman says Krimson ought to have acted sooner, removing the snow build up in the carport, before the collapse.
“Before something like this happened,” she says.
Krimson management says it is not expecting to offer compensation for residents who have been impacted.
6 News has reached out to the city of Lansing to find out if carports are inspected within the city, and if so, when the last time the carports at Colonial Woods Senior Community were inspected. A spokesman for the city was immediately able to get the information.
Some of the woman’s neighbors didn’t suffer damages in the collapse.
“Good luck to them,” says Betty Smith. “Glad it wasn’t me.”
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