It was about 4:15 a.m. yesterday morning and it was raining outside when Hugh Elliott work up to the sound of fire trucks. Elliott went outside his apartment building at 838 West Knoll Dr. to see what was going on. With no emergency evident he went back to his apartment, only to find a fire fighter knocking on his door an hour later telling him, “you need to leave now.”
Elliott, who has AIDS, grabbed the medicine he must take daily. But he also took time to pack his personal computer and some clothing. Experience told him that this emergency evacuation wasn’t going to be a short one.
Elliott was one of the 150 residents of 838 West Knoll who have been evacuated for the second time in less than two months because of flooding of their building. This time he is prepared for an experience he knows will be a nightmare.
Elliott said residents were told during the first evacuation that they would be displaced for only four days. That four days grew to six weeks, with Elliott and some of his fellow residents housed at a Marriott hotel near the Burbank Airport. They were transported back to West Hollywood several times to retrieve additional belongings. Others were placed with relatives or, if their health was especially poor, in assisted living facilities.
Elliott said there’s no reason not to expect that the residents of this Los Angeles County Housing Authority building won’t experience a similar disruption of their lives this time. Elissa Vasquez, the Housing Authority’s public information officer, said the Authority doesn’t have a definitive return date for several reasons. “The first is we are assessing the damage to the apartments,” she said. “The second reason is the roofing contractor is there this afternoon to assess the approach to fixing the roof.”
The first evacuation was the result of an unusual heavy rain that leaked through the tarp placed across the roof of the building while a contractor was working to install solar panels on it. Vasquez said that had been replaced by a temporary roof, which apparently didn’t block the rainfall this time either. The six-week exodus was because the Housing Authority had to make repairs to many of the water-damaged apartments.
Elliott, who has lived at 838 West Knoll for 15 years, said that a six-week stay in a hotel isn’t anything like a vacation. “They’ve worked out some sort of deal with the hotel where they have some sort of cafeteria setup, but you don’t get any choice,” he said. “I don’t eat everything. Some of the things they offer, I am unfortunately under extensive dental work, so I can’t eat some of that.”
Elliott said that he and his neighbors, who include a large number of elderly Russian-speaking people, also feel disoriented because they are in an area they don’t know. Whereas on West Knoll those who were able could walk down the street for coffee, the Burbank Airport area doesn’t feel like their neighborhood. Also, Elliott said, the Russian-speaking residents must deal with a language and cultural barrier in working with the Marriott’s staff.
Vladimir Melamed said that his Russian-speaking mother, who is in her late 70s and has lived at 838 West Knoll since 1999, is very stressed by this second evacuation from her home. She is staying temporarily with Melamed. “It’s tremendous stress.” Melamed said. “There is not much space living here.”
“Most residents (like myself) also receive medical care close to us in West Hollywood because we don’t have cars,” Elliott said in an email message. “This displacement has made it harder or impossible to get the proper treatment we need. The response from those in charge has been problematic, often answering complaints by telling us that we should be grateful we are being relocated and that other people in similar situations would be on the street. That may be true but it certainly is no way to handle those of us living through the trauma of not being around our personal possessions and the things we need to support us.”
“I’ve been living with HIV and AIDS for 30 plus years, and the stress and physical obstacles make this even more difficult to manage,” Elliott said. “Thanks to those who have expressed concern. I for one certainly could use the support.”
What is still in Place for the Residents of West Knoll Apartments Lack of information depletes one’s ability of decision-making. By and large, the state of affairs is not entangled when we know who, how and when. Speaking to the tenants of West Knoll Apartments, I became able to reinstate the course of devastating decisions and its implications. But what is much more important to know, it was not the chain of incompetent and irresponsible decisions that took morally and financially detrimental toll on the residents and Housing Authority. On the surface and for many all responsibilities lie with the… Read more »
Randy, I appreciate your concern, we were put up in Burbank as the hotels in Weho were booked for the Emmy’s
The Ramada in West Hollywood has corporate housing. Can they put some people up there? Maybe its full.