Jennings residents upset after losing water twice in one week
JENNINGS, Mo. – Some residents at Jennings are scrambling after losing water to their house twice within a week.
Neighbors at the Jenn Station Apartments had a pipe burst last Wednesday in the basement of one of the buildings, which ended in the water being shut off for two days.
Four days later, a vacant unit on the upper floor had a pipe burst, leaving damage behind.
One neighbor on the floor below had to put her wet belongings out in the hallway after her unit was flooded. The hallway was littered with water-damaged items and soaked carpeting.
LaTonya Fentress lives at Jenn Station with her son, who has special needs. She said the second pipe burst left neighbors feeling neglected and ignored.
“We weren’t prepared for it to happen again, back-to-back like that,” Fentress said. “I feel like they should have at least insulated the pipes and had some type of heating down there, even if they had to use a generator.”
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Fentress tried to contact the City of Jennings and even direct-messaged the mayor, but never heard back. She said while she feels the apartment complex could have done more to prevent these pipe bursts, she’s also upset the city didn’t try to step in and help residents.
She worries about what could happen if they’re hit with a bigger crisis in the future.
“If it was a bigger crisis than this, where was our help going to come from? Who was going to answer my calls and numerous messages?” Fentress said.
Other neighbors could not believe this happened a second time in under a week. Brenda Bell lives in the building directly next to where the pipe bursts occurred. She said it’s just the most recent in a long line of issues she’s had while living at the complex.
“You expect to get up in the morning and be able to get in the tub or make some water for coffee, and you’re like, ‘What..is going on?'” Bell said.
Jenn Station Apartments recently came under new management. The complex’s manager said they did their best to get the pipes fixed as quickly as possible so they could get the water back on for their residents.
The manager plans on making changes to prevent this from happening again in the future.
Jennings Mayor Gary Johnson also weighed in on the situation.
“The water issue is fixed. As always, it brings me great pleasure to assist the residents of Jennings,” Gary Johnson, Jennings mayor, said.
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