Residents at The Portland say a broken elevator has left some unable to leave their apartments, raising concerns about safety.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Residents at The Portland, an income-restricted affordable apartment building in St. Petersburg, say they are growing frustrated after an elevator outage that has stretched on for several days, leaving some unable to leave their homes.

For those living on upper floors, the outage has turned routine tasks into major challenges.

Greg Wasmund, who lives on the 12th floor, said getting home now means climbing 176 steps each way.

“It takes me 35 minutes to an hour to get back up because I don’t have the physical strength. I’m 65, I have physical ailments. I’m on disability,” Wasmund said.

The elevator has been out of service since Monday after flooding damaged key components, leaving residents with no easy way to move between floors.

Wasmund said the outage is affecting his ability to get to regular medical appointments.

“I have doctors appointments, several, a week and now I feel like I can’t get to them. We’re stranded here,” he said.

He also expressed concern for other residents who may be in worse condition.

“There’s people worse off than me that can’t walk up here and on other floors,” Wasmund said.

Residents say they got one email about the outage on Tuesday but nothing since.

10 Tampa Bay News reached out to the Pinellas County Housing Authority, which owns the building. A spokesperson said replacement parts are expected to arrive Friday or Saturday, at which point repairs will begin, but did not provide a timeline for when the elevator will be fixed.

“We recognize the disruption this has caused, particularly for residents on higher floors and those with mobility challenges. On-site staff are available to assist residents as needed during this time,” the spokesperson said.

Wasmund said he has not seen much staff support and believes the response falls short.

“They’re trying to sugar coat it for us, trying to keep us at bay, like, ‘Oh it’s going to be okay.’ This is not okay. This is horrible,” he said.

The City of St. Petersburg says residents who have an emergency and cannot leave their apartments should call 911. For ongoing concerns, they can also contact code enforcement.