Officials: Nearly 300 apartment units evacuated amid 2 ceiling collapses at Edison complex

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Nearly 300 apartment units at an Edison complex were evacuated Friday afternoon following a ceiling collapse in one of the units. It was the second ceiling collapse at the complex in less than a week, according to officials. [twitter] https://twitter.com/ReporterJim/status/1821971021165162634 [/twitter Evacuating the residents of the Evergreen Meadows Complex on White Birch Road took hours, as severe weather threatened the area. "My parents didn't even know what happened to them they were in shock," said a man whose parents had their ceiling collapse on them at 4 a.m. Friday while they were sleeping. "We heard some loud noise. My wife went into the room to see what was happening in my parents' room. She saw the entire roof was over them." The man’s mother was taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries but is expected to be OK. "Absolutely 100% unacceptable. We are going to hold the management company accountable," said Edison Mayor Sam Joshi. Joshi and emergency crews rushed to the complex for this latest collapse, following the first which happened on Saturday. Officials inspected the 12 buildings at the complex on Friday and deemed 11 of them were unsafe, leading to the evacuation of about 280 units. "The nails are actually pulling through the sheetrock so then the sheetrock just collapses," said Edison Township Code Enforcement Official John Soltesz.

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"We told them that they needed to rectify the issue and they needed to inspect every single area they needed to rectify the problem immediately the problem is that they did not in the same week there's a second ceiling that has collapsed," added Joshi. Many of the resources that were on the scene were initially prepared to handle any storm damage. Extra police officers will be patrolling the complex during the overnight hours because all except one of the apartment buildings have now been deemed unsafe to live in. Evacuees were told to check into the Edison Senior Center on Woodbridge Avenue for more information on emergency hotel accommodations. Edison officials say that the goal is to have people return to their homes within 24-48 hours. Contractors are already on the scene to begin repairs. The management company is bearing the cost of repairs and hotel stays. "