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Residents evacuated from area around Hard Rock Hotel collapse return home to mess

“Nobody had a plan."

NEW ORLEANS — For the first time in more than two weeks, Vincent Milligan can make dinner in his Canal Street apartment.

On Oct. 12, as the Hard Rock Hotel collapsed next door to the LaSalle Apartments, Milligan and dozens of his neighbors were evacuated from their homes. When the city allowed them back in, there were padlocks on the doors first responders kick in while clearing the building.

One woman’s door handle was totally removed.

“Somebody called it Beirut,” Milligan said. “A war zone.”

And the natural gas was shut off. No laundry, no cooking, no hot showers until a plumber could inspect every gas line.

Idella Lewis says she’s still not sure if she’ll have to move. And she, like others, isn’t satisfied with the communication from the Indianapolis-based property manager.

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“I'm just wondering how long it's going to take,” she said. “How long will we're going to be inconvenienced by it."

Hot water has returned to the apartments and now residents are hoping to crank up the heat under the powers that be.

“Nobody had a plan,” Milligan said. “They should have had a plan if they were letting a building of that magnitude go up on a corner in a historical area, and so close to so many buildings."

And wondering -- when work on the site resumes, will they be forced from their homes again?

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