HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Power problems have sparked concerns for residents of an apartment complex in Hollywood.
Nearly half of the residents at the complex located at 2634 Johnson Street have no power, and they have no clue why or when the lights are coming back on.
“My house is hotter than a sauna,” said resident Olga Quintana.
What’s worse, they say management won’t get back to them.
Some of those residents called Local 10 News after feeling they had nowhere else to turn but the media.
“Some people have power some don’t,” said resident Sylvia Alfonso. “Since 10 this morning no power. You can’t get in touch with the owners.”
Residents said the blackout came without warning, and they just paid their bill.
“I have my receipt that I paid an extra $90 for the utility on top of my rent,” said resident Nerinda Robinson.
Making matters worse for 70-year-old Alfonso, she just went grocery shopping.
“You have no idea, I’ve been in tears all day today,” she said.
“That’s a lot of money down the drain, because they decided not to pay the utility bill,” said Robinson.
Quintana said she tried getting to the bottom of the outage.
“I called FPL only to find out,” she said. “The company had the account closed.”
Residents who do have power told Local 10 News they have direct accounts with FPL.
The folks without power said they pay management directly, who recently sent them a letter telling them they are now under new management.
Calls to the number on the letter went unanswered, other than a voicemail prompt.
Those affected referred Local 10 News to the manager on site, who apparently does have power.
“He’s in apartment 75,” said Quintana.
No one answered the door when Local 10′s Christian De La Rosa knocked.
“He has lights, he’s comfy, cozy, and we out here standing out here sweating like pigs,” said Robinson.
Making matters worse for those without power is the threatening weather forecast of heavy, extended rain and wind in the coming days.
Local 10 News reached out to FPL regarding the situation, and they responded with the following statement:
“We’re aware of an outage in Hollywood, Florida. We are investigating the cause of the outage and working safely and as quickly as possible to resolve the issue.”