Residents of a special care home in Amherst, N.S. are upset it’s taking months for them to return to the facility following a flood.
Major flooding filled the basement and damaged electrical and heating systems in June, forcing 69 residents to leave Centennial Villa.
“It’s just like our home there and we’ve been uprooted from that,” says resident Austen Rose.
“They left there and just a few of their belongings,” says his daughter, Carol Ann. “They had just nicely settled in, and that’s their home now, and they’re kind of living out of a suitcase right now.”
People living on the second floor of the home have returned to their rooms, and it was expected that 43 residents living on the main floor would return to Centennial Villa by August, but the return date keeps getting pushed back.
Carol Ann says she heard the fire marshal wouldn’t approve the work because there was no building permit.
“The administration indicated that they had contacted the Town of Amherst at the beginning and they were told that they did not require one because they were just restoring the building back to its original condition,” she says.
The administrator at Centennial Villa declined to discuss the permit issue, but did say they are working to get the residents back to their rooms as soon as possible.
“Now the work is pretty much completed. We’re just waiting on some final paperwork to be able to get the clients to be able to move back home,” says Susan Collins.
An official for the Town of Amherst tells CTV News the matter was simply a misunderstanding because it was obvious a building permit was needed.
Meanwhile, the residents of Centennial Villa are still waiting for word on when they can return to the home.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh
