Elan City Lights tenants: ‘What are we going to do?'

Residents at the Elan City Lights Apartment complex damaged in Sunday's crane collapse are trying to make plans before their monetary assistance stops on Friday.

High winds in Sunday's storm caused a nearby crane to collapse into the building, killing one woman and seriously injuring four others who are still in the hospital.

The building has been deemed unlivable, and Dallas Fire-Rescue spent about an hour on Wednesday escorting 35 more residents in to grab necessary items.

OSHA investigators also visited the site on Wednesday, but so far there is no timeline on when the crane will be removed from the building.

Apartment managers are helping residents relocate to other apartments and are giving out checks to get them through Friday, but residents are now having to plan for how they'll get by beyond that.

Travis Jones' car and almost all his family's belongings are still trapped inside the apartment complex. He says his insurance company won't move forward with a claim until the building owners decide what they're going to do with the property, cars and everything left inside.

“For now, it's a question mark on my insurance claim. As far as us getting a car, we have to pay out of our own pocket,” Jones said. “And they said they're only reimbursing us until Friday. So after that, what are we going to do?”

Residents can't get back inside to grab more items or document the damage done to their property for their insurance companies.

“They're telling me I have to take back my rental car because they're telling me I don't know if there's any damage to your actual car, so you'll have to take that back,” said resident Mikos Smith. “Everything's in limbo right now.”

Apartment management company Greystar is working with a disaster recovery contractor to pack up what can be salvaged in apartment units for residents to pick up later, but there's no estimate when that will be.

State Farm agents were on site helping residents with insurance questions.

But with the money from Greystar for hotels and other daily needs coming to a halt Friday, residents are trying to finalize plans to stay with family and friends or move into new apartments.

“We won't have furniture. We're going to be sleeping on air mattresses,” said Breanna Jones. “At least it'll be a little more secure because we'll have somewhere to be at, but this is just too much.”

Dallas Fire-Rescue says they expect the OHSA investigation to take a couple of days.

Apartment representatives will be back out on Thursday to continue handing out checks and helping residents with their needs.