ORLANDO, Fla. – A new engineering report has revealed what went wrong at a cracking Orlando apartment complex earlier this year, though it begs another question: can it ever reopen?
Back in March, approximately 200 families were awoken and ordered out of the Rialto Apartments as cracks began to form around one of the buildings.
According to Orange County Fire Rescue, they received a call from a resident who said she couldn’t open her front door and heard popping noises that made her think the building was collapsing.
When crews arrived, they found signs of structural instability and had to force the resident’s door open to get them out. That’s when they began evacuating the building.
Cracks found by Orange County officials at The Rialto Apartments, which was evacuated for signs of ‘structural instability.’ (Orange County)
News 6 later learned that inspectors found significant cracking and a large gap beneath the building.
On Thursday night, the Rialto says a sinkhole apparently opened up under two sections of the building, with the final engineering report showing that the sinkhole caused the building to slowly sink.
Elsewhere on the website, officials with Rialto say the complex has helped nearly all of the 200 families pack up and move, though there is still at least one unsettled lawsuit.
[RELATED: 3 months after Rialto evacuations, residents remain displaced]
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