PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Hundreds of people forced from their homes after a deadly Learjet crash near Greenacres are now facing a difficult reality: they don't know when they'll be allowed back.
An estimated 400 to 600 people were displaced as investigators secured the surrounding mobile home neighborhood and began combing through debris scattered throughout their houses.
WATCH REPORT BELOW:
WPTV is listening to residents impacted and met Armando Perez.
He says his mobile home is just about 250 feet from where the crash happened. But right now, he can't get to his house, his vehicle or the tools he needs to work.
"I have a regular life like everybody does, and all of us just want a little bit of our lives back, I guess," Perez said.
Perez was home when the Learjet crashed and remembers feeling the impact before he fully understood what was happening.
"If you could visualize, if you could feel noise, then that's how I felt. I felt the noise in my body," Perez said. "I felt the pressure that sent through my walls when I was sleeping."
Within minutes, neighbors were coming out of their homes, trying to figure out what had happened.
Eventually, residents learned a jet had gone down nearby. Then came the evacuation.
Perez said residents were given time to grab the necessities for a couple of days. He took clothes, his passport, a toothbrush and other hygiene products. His vehicle, however, stayed behind, along with the tools and equipment he uses to make a living.
"Working materials are there. My screwdrivers, my drills, my saws, they're stuck there," Perez said.
Perez works as a handyman, making access to those tools and his vehicle especially important. He said the longer he remains displaced, the more worried he becomes about the financial impact.
"Please help us as soon as possible, please, and help us with what is really needed," Perez said. "We're not asking for nothing else but the necessary that's been lost or gonna get lost because of this, because my job wages, when rent comes down, who is gonna be, is my landlord or the people who I pay for that lot gonna say, ‘Oh, we feel sorry for you to have a discount?’ No, full payments are gonna have to be made."
Region C Palm Beach County
NTSB: Learjet reported icing, turbulence before deadly crash
Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores said residents have not been allowed back because the area is still being investigated.
"They're combing through all the evidence. Once that is clear, they'll gain access," Flores said. "We're hoping to try to see if there's a way that we can get their vehicles out once that crime scene is gone through, but at this point in time we don't really know when."
Flores said that the crash happened near the entrance of the mobile park and said there's no way to go in or out without interfering with the scene.
"You know, it could be up to two weeks. We don't really know," Flores said. "I'm trying to get people to at least get their vehicles."
Around 50 people stayed overnight at the Greenacres Community Center, according to Flores. The county initially opened two shelter sites but later consolidated them into one.
Perez was among those who stayed at the community center.
"It wasn't bad, Joel. They did the best they can for us, and they have, and I hope they still do," Perez said.
While WPTV was on scene, emergency officials brought mobile showers to the shelter and is working on other forms of assistance. Flores said he's trying to secure hotel vouchers as well as food and Palm Tran vouchers for people who do not have access to their vehicles.
The problems extend beyond the investigation itself.
Flores said a water main broke, causing a water outage in the neighborhood and nearby businesses. Crews need to pump water out before reaching some of the debris, and rain has made that work more difficult.
"Because of the water main breaking, we have to pump all the water out so that we're able to get to the debris, and with the rain last night and we're expecting more rain, it's making the process go a lot slower," Flores said.
Florida state Rep. Debra Tendrich said debris from the aircraft has been scattered throughout the surrounding community, stretching roughly two miles.
"Some of those pieces are very sharp," Tendrich said. "And so in order for us to make sure our community is safe, we also want people to look out in their backyards and around their homes to make sure that when they're out with their kids or walking their dogs that they're not stepping on these items."
Residents who find potential evidence or witnessed the crash can report it by calling 561-688-3375, Tendrich said.
She's also looking ahead to another problem residents could face when they're finally allowed home: food.
With power shut off in the affected area, Tendrich said some families may return to refrigerators filled with food that has to be thrown away.
"What's happening with their electricity being cut off and the power grid shut down, you're looking at people returning to their homes and having to throw out their entire refrigerator full of food that they might have just purchased or that they need to fill now," Tendrich said.
For families already dealing with displacement, she said that's another expense she doesn't want them to have to shoulder alone.
"The last thing that you want to worry about is how are you going to feed yourself, your family, and your children after a tragedy like this," Tendrich said.
For Perez, getting back home also means getting back some sense of normalcy. While he understands investigators still have a job to do, he said the uncertainty is taking a toll financially and mentally.
"I understand that there's lives and things that happened, but I'm alive too," Perez said. "Our lives are tied up in an investigation."
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