A Tulsa, Okla., building that suffered millions of dollars in damage when it was struck by a tornado recently is being assessed to determine whether it may collapse.
The 20-story Remington Tower was damaged during a storm on Aug. 6. Business owners and other tenants of the building still haven’t been able to retrieve their belongings because of safety concerns.
Evaluating the building could take several weeks, insurance firm Jansen Adjusters International told the Tulsa World.
“Basically what happened is the wind in the tornado — the pressure — came down the elevator shaft and blew everything out,” said Bill Sharpe, the firm’s regional manager. “It literally pushed everything out this way.”
Sharpe said he believes most of the building will have to be rebuilt. He said his greatest concern is potential mold because of humidity after intense rains soaked the building.
Sharpe told business owners that entry into the tower is limited for safety concerns.
“The city of Tulsa says no one for any reason other than professionals with liability insurance will enter the building for any purpose other than to assess the damage until engineers have cleared the building structurally sound,” he said.
Brooke Riley, principal of OneWorld Benefits Group, wants to enter the tower to grab her computer in hope it is salvageable. She said it’s critical to the business’ operations.
“It’s difficult. You’re used to having your computer and your space that you walk into every day and spend 10 hours in,” Riley said. “To have that ripped out and told you don’t know when you’re going to be able to get back into it is frustrating.”
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