Wrong Home Demolished, Company Promises to 'Make it Right'
“I was in complete shock," the homeowner said.
— -- A Texas woman whose house was mistakenly torn down says the city-contracted demolition company, which initially tried to duck responsibility, has "sincerely apologized."
"I'm satisfied that they apologized, but will not know, really, until they make me an offer," Lindsay Diaz tells ABC News. The company told her they would, "work to make it right."
A powerful tornado last December ripped through Rowlett, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, causing major damage to more than a thousand homes and businesses, according to the city. Diaz's home, which she shared with her boyfriend and newborn baby, was one of them.
The roof was blown off and all of her family’s belongings were completely destroyed, forcing them into a rental home. The tornado-damaged house, however, was still salvageable. That is, until a demolition team arrived at the correct address numbers, but on the wrong street, on March 22.
Instead of demolishing two homes at 7601 and 7603 Cousteau Drive, the company tore down 7601 and 7603 Calypso Drive -- the duplex Diaz and her family shared with neighbor Alan Cutter.
“I was in complete shock," Diaz says. "I just couldn’t believe that it had happened. It was just unbelievable."
The demolition company, Billy L. Nabors, attributes the error to wrong Google Maps directions.
“Your heart sinks first,” George Gomez of the Billy L. Nabors Demolition company told ABC News. "Just cause we felt so bad for Lindsay and Mr. Cutter that we made this mistake. We’re going to make it right, we’re definitely going to do right by both homeowners.”
The city maintains it is not to blame.
"We issued those permits on March 14th, 2016, for the two homes at 7601 and 7603 Cousteau Drive," said Marc Kurbansade, Rowlett's Director of Development Services. "That's from the city's perspective. That's what we've done to this point."
A police report that Diaz, Cutter and three other home owners filed against the demolition company lists the loss for the property they demolished at $200,000.00.
Before the accidental demolition, Diaz says she was working to raise the funds her family needed to fix the tornado damage, over and above what insurance was offering.
“I had plans to repair the home and we had already come up with a floor-plan,” Diaz says. “I was excited about getting a new home and we submitted the plans."
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