‘It’s been awful: Residents in south Charlotte complex almost 1 week without water

CHARLOTTE — Residents living in a south Charlotte neighborhood have been without water for the past five days and have had to use water bottles for everything over the holiday weekend.

This is all happening at the Park Place Townhomes off Park Road and Abbey Place, and for many, the past five days have felt like an eternity. On Monday, they hope to hear something about repairs beginning from the Home Owners Association (HOA).

“It’s been awful; it’s the holiday season; it’s supposed to be a great time of year, and we’ve been without water,” Christian Ballew, a resident, said.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: South Charlotte residents without water for 72 hours, not sure when it will be fixed

The nearly week-long outage has impacted all of the neighbors in different ways. Lee Myers is 84 years old and has been struggling to haul gallons of water into their home.

“For mobility, I use a cane, and I couldn’t get the boxes open; I couldn’t get the bottles out,” Myers said.

Travis Motley says his frustration stems from a lack of communication and transparency between the HOA and the tenants.

“The HOA has been kind of a resource, and since Wednesday they went dark,” Motley said. “We haven’t heard anything since the last time we talked.”

On Sunday, veteran crime reporter Glenn Counts spoke to an HOA board member who refused to identify himself as one. He denied claims that the board has been silent and sent Counts a chain of emails.

In total, 15 emails were sent from Wednesday, Nov. 15, to Wednesday, Nov. 22. But Myers says that’s not good enough for tenants like her, who now know how many gallons it takes to flush the toilet.

“I really didn’t know how toilets functioned before; besides pushing that little handle, it’s been an education, yeah,” Myers said.

Even if repairs were to begin on Monday, a few neighbors don’t think it’s possible to turn the water on at once. They think it could be a layered approach to the problem of residents at the back of the complex waiting for weeks.

(WATCH BELOW: South Charlotte residents without water for 72 hours, not sure when it will be fixed)