JENSEN BEACH, Fla. — WPTV has obtained new information and video that gives us a closer look at what prompted St. Lucie County inspectors to evacuate a Jensen Beach condo complex last week over safety concerns.
Late Monday afternoon, the St. Lucie County Office of Communications released a video through a public records request to WPTV Reporter Ethan Stein taken by the engineers inspecting the Villa Del Sol condos.
In the video, engineer Gustavo Alvarez from AB Plus Engineering shows the cracks in the concrete that is the base of one of the buildings. The video shows him demonstrating how the concrete easily chips away when hit with a hammer.
"This is the foundation for this building," Alvarez says in the video. "It is completely cracked."
Tapping the foundation with a hammer, the inspector says in the video, "It keeps cracking."
WATCH VIDEO BELOW FROM THE INSPECTORS:
Building 3:
Building 4:
Building 5:
In that email to St. Lucie County Building Official Michael Jerrahian — and sent to the county fire marshal — Alvarez wrote in his inspection that he found "more extensive damage than initially observed."
The email added that "sections of rebar were disintegrating."
Alvarez concluded that "given the severity of these conditions, I strongly recommend the immediate evacuation of residents" from two buildings. Alvarez then amended to recommend three buildings be evacuated.
That email was sent at 5:10 pm, Thursday. Evacuations took place by sunset.
"WHAT'S OUR NEXT MOVE?"
Four days later, residents still don't have a timeline for when they'll be able to return to their home.
"We're still trying to find out what's our next move is," homeowner Eric Johnson said.
Homeowners here at Villa Del Sol condos in Jensen Beach said they had an emergency meeting with property managers and the contractor at Waterfront Services Inc. about what they found that caused these buildings to be evacuated last Thursday.
It's a meeting that residents describe as intense.
"Some heated conversations, understandably so," Johnson said. "A lot of people still don't know exactly what's exactly going on. A lot of people are angry because this is their investment, their asset, this is their house, their home, everything all tied into one."
Homeowners said they were shown videos and pictures detailing the damage.
They say they were told at the meeting that saltwater affected the rebar and corroded the structural integrity of the concrete.
"They had concrete foundations that were running the full length of the things where sections of them were just crumbling," Johnson said. "They would just tap them a little bit with a hammer and the concrete would just fall overexposing raw rebar that was very badly corroded."
But residents still have one big question.
"How much more is this going to cost me?" resident Christine Chico asked.
Chico's building was not affected by the inspection, but residents said this affects everyone in the community.
"This is going to be a huge financial stress for a lot of people, and I know there's people in this community that barely made it through the first assessment," Johnson said. "I don’t know how we're going to be moving on from here."
President of Villa Del Sol's Board, Dhyana Rodriguez, and Director Tony Eques said they weren't aware of previous repairs to the foundation of any buildings as of Monday.
"Our concern since this year and a half that we’ve been on the board has been the safety of everyone, and thank God that we don’t have a catastrophe like a Surfside,” Rodriquez said. “So our main goal it to make sure everybody is safe.”
Homeowners told WPTV that the assessment could cost each person more than $40,000, but Rodriguez and Eques say the $40,000 were for only for roof repairs, electrical systems and a report on the building.
Chico said she doesn't know how much more she can take.
"How much money can I keep throwing into this?" Chico said. "I'm retired like many in this community. This is a retirement dream. A retirement usually means fixed income."
It's a dream that homeowners say may be put on hold.
"If I can stick it out until it's repaired, maybe the value will come back but right now, good luck," Chico said.
Eques hopes that the financial burden put on the effected residents will be worth the cost.
“When we saw those videos, heck, it didn’t look right,” Eques said. “…When we saw the videos I felt flushed because you can see your dream crumbling almost literally and figuratively. You got to hope there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”
We are staying on top of this story. Look for updates on WPTV.com.
