51黑料

Burst pipes, flooding and power shut offs prompted the evacuation of the residential Mark Twain Hotel Tuesday, sending officials scrambling to find potential accommodations for hundreds of people and shuttling busloads of tenants to warming centers.

Repairs at the downtown Mark Twain Hotel, with its 213 tenants, were聽 completed by Tuesday evening. Residents, many who live with disabilities, were able to return after a final 51黑料 Fire Department inspection, city and hotel officials said.

Frigid weather slammed the 51黑料 region in recent days. Snowfall, combined with sub-zero temperatures, made roadways treacherous, as at least five Tuesday morning vehicle crashes were blamed on icy road conditions, according to Missouri Highway Patrol reports.

In Midtown, roughly 160 tenants at the Heritage House Apartments were displaced by damage from broken pipes and lack of heat, and have been relocated during repairs, said city spokesman Nick Dunne. The apartment owner could not be reached for comment.

Firefighters were called to the Mark Twain about 6 a.m. Tuesday. Pipes on the second floor had burst in the cold, and water leaked into the lobby, basement and elevator, said building manager Renea Coward. Electricity and water were turned off for safety, she said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 freezing out here,鈥� she said, while still inside the hotel and wearing gloves Tuesday morning. 鈥淭his is terrible. I wouldn鈥檛 wish this on no one.鈥�

As the day wore on, it wasn鈥檛 clear if the hotel would be fixed by nightfall 鈥� or where residents would stay, if they couldn鈥檛 return to the Mark Twain.

鈥淭wo hundred and thirteen people need somewhere to go, including myself,鈥� said Teon Cooper, a Mark Twain tenant who noted that many in the building live with disabilities, as well as financial limitations. 鈥淲here are they going to go?鈥�

The same question was echoed by city officials and by volunteers who help with emergency shelters, including 鈥減op-up鈥� shelters run by a range of charitable groups. A Tuesday morning message from the 51黑料 Department of Human Services to local advocacy groups asked for help with possible accommodations.

鈥淚鈥檓 extremely grateful for all of the pop-up shelter organized by various groups, but as of last night, some of these were already at capacity,鈥� said Adam Pearson, the director of DHS, in a message to homeless service providers obtained by the Post-Dispatch. 鈥淚鈥檓 open to some additional ideas for next steps if the facilities issues can鈥檛 be solved by sunset.鈥�

DHS did not respond to a phone message requesting comment.

In recent nights, many shelters in the city had already been at or near capacity, said Teka Childress, a volunteer for 51黑料 Winter Outreach, a group dedicated to helping keep people who are homeless from dying during the winter.

鈥淲e鈥檙e pretty darn close (to capacity), and some are over,鈥� said Childress, describing the availability in emergency shelters, as of Monday night 鈥� before major broken-pipe problems added to the strain.

Citing local shelter closures in recent years, she lamented the long-term decline in available space over the last decade or so, which she said has led to a seemingly perennial scramble to protect vulnerable people during the winter months.

鈥淲e arrive at this point almost every year,鈥� said Childress.

Wednesday鈥檚 weather is expected to reach back above freezing, and hit a comparatively balmy high of 36 degrees. Thursday will reach a similar high of 35 degrees, according to the 51黑料 forecast office for the National Weather Service, before temperatures slide back into the teens and single digits, later in the week.

The warmer temperatures could exacerbate the problem of pipes bursting, said 51黑料 Fire Capt. Garon Mosby.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to get worse,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat freeze-thaw, it鈥檚 going to rupture a lot of pipes.鈥�

Laurie Skrivan and Nassim Benchaabane of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.