[RP TownTalk] Riverdale Towers - most people back in their apartments

[Alan K. Thompson]

Friends and neighbors,

As I think most of you heard, Riverdale Towers was evacuated to an
emergency shelter earlier today after issues were found in the building
damaged by the derecho.

I just got back from visiting, with Ward 5 Councilman Raymond Rivas, both
the shelter at Bladensburg High School and Riverdale Towers itself.

The good news is that almost all of the Riverdale Towers residents are back
in their apartments.  There were maybe four or five families at Bladensburg
(we spoke with two of them - the others were out of the building but
expected back).  The ones we spoke to seemed in good spirits overall if
frustrated by their situation (and by the speed of repairs, and the general
state of their building).

We spoke with a family in the apartment building, and they were glad they'd
been able to get back in, but were unhappy that the AC was still out (it
had apparently been out for a few weeks even before the storm).  I saw
photos on a cell phone of one of the damaged apartments, which had been
stripped down to studs so it could be dried out.

I'm glad that most people are back in their apartments or resettled nearby,
and hope that the repairs on the remaining uninhabitable apartments go
quickly.  I'm also glad to live in a community where residents not directly
affected by the evacuation were concerned enough to contact me and ask how
they could help those in need.

Alan Thompson
Ward 2 Town Council representative and Acting Mayor
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