PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A beacon leads one to safety, but at Beacon303 at Olde Towne, many residents say the conditions in this building could lead them to the grave.
Drake Milstead said he woke up in the middle of the night early Thursday drenched in sweat.
“Yeah, it ‘bleep’ me off,” Milstead said. “A lot of this stuff is making everyone in this building getting severely dehydrated or running with no AC.”
88 degrees, and 90 degrees, that’s what two residents recorded inside their units this week.
Hot, frustrated and fearful, some told me they felt abandoned as the temperatures have reached the danger zone. 42-year old Tonya Mills who lives in the building calls the conditions a crisis situation.
“I haven’t been feeling ill yet,” Mills said. “Not me, per se, but my daughter has asthma. Her asthma been acting up terribly since me been in here.”
From the scene, 10 On Your Side called Mayor Shannon Glover, who said he was unaware so many were living in dangerous conditions.
Regina Mobley: We had a story on the air two days ago about this situation. I’m surprised someone from City Hall did not bring this to your attention.
Shannon Glover: If we weren’t made aware of it through residents or through the company they may need some assistance, we can’t necessarily speak to that, unfortunately.
10 On Your Side placed a second call to corporate, where an operator offered send the call to maintenance and not management or media relations. 10 On Your Side has also reached out to corporate via email.
Residents say if conditions don’t improve, they fear the summer of 2025 could be their last summer.
“Honestly, I’m kind of worried because if it gets to that point,” Milstead said, “there are going to be people in this building that literally die in the building and we can’t do anything about it.”