DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Susan Rossnan has had to deal with insurance payouts, building permits, homeowner’s association rules in the five-and-a-half years since she had to leave her home in the Kings Point development.
A tornado spawned by Hurricane Irma in 2017 damaged her condo and three others.
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“It’s not what I had before,” said Rossnan as she pointed to the floor of her rebuilt condo stacked with flooring, cabinets and other items waiting to be installed.
She still can’t move in.
“I’m in a rental,” Rossnan said. “And I’m on a day-to-day basis. I’m waiting for someone to say, ‘ok, we can start putting your apartment back together.’”
Susan and her husband Louis had to rent another unit, costing them much of the money they received for the insurance settlement.
She thought she’d only be there a year.
Susan’s son, Brian Ross, calls his mother’s ordeal unnecessary, and he pointed to the construction of the Hard Rock Hotel in Broward County for comparison.
“I know they built the guitar hotel in 18 months so this shouldn’t have taken 5 1/2 years," Ross said.
And he’s trying to negotiate with the Homeowner’s Association, which he says billed his mother for more than $25,000 in HOA dues while she and her husband rented another unit.
“I don’t think that’s fair,” Ross added.
“This is the kitchen and living room,” said Susan Rossnan as she pointed to boxes and empty floors on her rebuilt condo.
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She’s still waiting for the parts and permits needed to move in, and when she does it will be bittersweet when she thinks of her husband Louis, who died in October 2022.
“His dying wish was, ‘I’ve got to live in that apartment. I’ve got to get back home,” Rossnan said.
In September, a tornado touched down at Kings Point, damaging 60 units.
It was less than a mile away from Rossnan’s condo that was damaged in 2017.
She worries that some of the victims will share a similar, difficult experience.
