Retaining Wall Collapse Forces Residents from Homes

Residents of 24 condominium units at the Commons on Williams Square in Woodbridge are being kept out of their homes and are uncertain when they will get back in after a retaining wall behind a row of homes slid toward the buildings as a result of the heavy rainfall over the last few days.

The homes were evacuated late Thursday night after resident Anthony Rowe emailed a photo of the wall to Prince William Fire and Rescue. Rowe said he and others had been trying to get Fire and Rescue personnel to come out for at least two hours. “I was screaming on the phone, ‘You’re crazy,’” Rowe said.

Rowe said Fire Department personnel arrived around 10:00 p.m. and quickly evacuated all the residents with homes along the wall. “When the first firefighter came around the corner, he went ‘Man, you guys gotta get out of here,’” Rowe said.

Resident Jessica Rodriguez said that residents were “getting the runaround” from Flannery Property Management, the company that manages the condominiums in that community. “They’re not telling us what we can do, they’re just telling us to go to an emergency shelter,” she said.

Rodriguez added that residents who had attempted to contact their insurance companies had been told that since the wall had not actually contacted the buildings, it was the responsibility of the property management company to pay for residents’ accommodations. 

Residents only had a few minutes to gather some belongings and leave their homes late at night, Rodriguez said. “Three fire trucks came and they were basically banging on doors and telling people to get out,” she said. “We asked how long, and they said we don’t know, maybe pack for a couple days.”

Deborah Law said she had been at work last night, and when she arrived home this morning, found her building blocked off by yellow tape. She does not have anything with her except what she took with her to work last night. Law said she had never been called to alert her to what was happening. “I feel it’s a great failure for me to have to come back here this morning, find crime scene tape, and I can’t enter my house.”

Jeffrey Castro, Vice President of the community’s Board of Directors, said it was unclear what the course of action would be based on the conditions of the wall. “I think the most important thing is to make sure that people get in, get their things and find shelter,” Castro said.

Property Manager Jean Flannery said she was waiting for engineers and surveyors to finish determining the extent of the damage before deciding on a course of action. “It’s all new,” she said. Flannery said that she had made a claim on the master insurance policy Thursday night, but has been out at the complex all day and had not yet spoken with an adjuster.

In the meantime, Flannery said that residents need to work it out with their own insurance companies.

Jessica Rodriguez and Jason Stephens said they are staying with Rodriguez’ mother while they wait to find out more about the situation. “We’re blessed to have family down the street,” Rodriguez said. “Some people don’t have that.”