CLEARWATER — For the first time since being evacuated from a Clearwater condominium, residents were given permission to go back inside and gather up their things.
Sixty residents had to be evacuated from the South Beach III Condos on Gulf Blvd. this past Tuesday after a large crack was discovered in a concrete column in the parking garage.
“I was working in the middle of a meeting, and I had some weird beeps and I’m not sure what it was, but it was the fire department telling me to evacuate immediately,” said resident Bobby Liles.
WATCH: Displaced Clearwater condo residents allowed to gather up their things
This weekend Liles and fellow residents, one at a time, were given 15 minutes each to go back in and retrieve belongings. Liles said he mostly packed up things he needed for work.
“The part of not being able to come back at all definitely crossed my mind, family photo albums and things I’m a purveyor of, those are the things I thought about,” said Liles.
Liles is about to go on a week-long business trip, and he hopes that when he returns, the 12-story building will be declared safe.
“The fact that we were able to get some stuff out today makes me feel a lot better about getting in,” said Liles.
However, he also said he takes the evacuation very seriously.
“I had gotten home the day before from Miami, and I was over in Surfside, and saw where that building went down, and so for me it was knowing that in the middle of the night everybody died in that building, I was comfortable that I would rather be safe than sorry,” said Liles.
Liles also said he is pleased with the way the situation, all the way around, has been handled up to this point.
The board, they give us automated phone calls that come in on a regular basis, continuously send us emails,” said Liles.
According to the City of Clearwater, engineers are in the process of inspecting the condominium. Once those inspection reports are submitted, we’ll have a much better idea of when those residents can return home.
“It's a little nerve-wracking.”
Condo residents voice their concerns after substantial concrete cracks forced an evacuation of a condo building on Sand Key.
