EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio — Residents who live at Crystal Tower Apartment in East Cleveland told News 5 they haven’t had working heat inside their units for days.
Shelly Kimbro has lived at the apartment complex for four and a half years.
“This is one of the coldest weeks we’ve had, so far, in the winter and we have absolutely no heat, none,” she said.
Kimbro stocked up on portable heaters but said she and her child cannot stay at their apartment. Kimbro said they can see their breath inside.
“I open my oven, but that can only heat up so much,” she said. “I go to my sister’s house. I can’t live in the apartment where we are freezing.”
She said the heat broke Thursday.
“My windows have frost on the inside. I have a child,” said Kimbro.
Charnice Anderson has lived at the complex for one year. She is a licensed cosmetologist who works out of her apartment but said she hasn’t worked since Wednesday.
“I can’t do my clients because I can’t wash their hair, they’re going to be sitting in the cold with their wet hair,” said Anderson.
She’s been trying to stay warm with her blow dryer, oven, and several space heaters.
Anderson showed News 5 the two emails she received from Crystal Towers Apartment management. The first email said the 'cold weather has caused our chiller on the outside to burst,’ and there were ‘several pipes that have broken due to the extreme cold temperatures,’ it went on to say contractors are working to fix it. The second email said they’d provide heaters to residents who had lost heat, but Anderson said when she went they weren’t there.
Since Thursday, she hasn’t been able to reach anyone at the office.
“They haven’t even sent a check-up email, a follow-up that says ‘Hey are you ok? Do you need anything else,’ like this is ridiculous. It’s freezing,” she said. “Just treat us like we are human beings like you wouldn’t want your mother or your sister in the cold. We don’t want to be in the cold, either.”
News 5 called the property’s office several times and also went to see if anyone was there, but never spoke to anyone.
According to Cuyahoga County property records, Odin Properties owns Crystal Tower.
