No repair date set for neighborhood damaged by June tornado
BATON ROUGE - On the morning of June 24, an EF-1 tornado hit parts of Baton Rouge along Essen Lane, near I-10. One neighborhood in the storm's path is still trying to clean up the damage.
Cypress Point, just north of the interstate, was damaged by that tornado. Blanche Williams has lived in her Cypress Point condo for more than two decades. Williams says she was waking up that morning when her house started to shake and she heard a window break.
"Something was about to happen I didn't know what," she said.
The tornado blew through quickly, but it was enough to cause some damage. Windows broke, shingles flew off roofs, siding tore off, awnings ripped, and large tree limbs fell. Williams remembers that neighbors helped neighbors clean up that day, but she hasn't heard anything about when repairs will be made.
Williams contacted 2 On Your Side when she couldn't get answers from her HOA. In Cypress Point, the units are individually owned and the owner is responsible for taking care of the inside. The outside of the units is maintained by the HOA. Williams says part of her monthly HOA fees goes toward insurance.
"This was the first time that I ever had to file a claim with the HOA so they could file a claim with the insurance company," she said.
Two and a half months have passed since the storm and Williams fears the repairs to her home will never happen. In some units, water is leaking through the broken windows and holes in the roof.
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The HOA manager tells 2 On Your Side that estimates are coming in for repairs and "work will begin soon." A repair start date was not provided.
"I just want to know the status of things," she said. "We shouldn't have to live like this."