SAN ANTONIO – Several residents displaced by the tornado that heavily damaged the Oasis Apartments near the University of Texas at San Antonio say they are now dealing with another setback: missing personal belongings.
Carlos Ortiz and his roommate, Alan Guerrero, lived on the third floor of the building that sustained severe damage when the tornado tore off the roof, leaving the building uninhabitable.
“We were very lucky, but it’s just the aftermath was even worse than the actual tornado,” Ortiz said.
Following the storm, residents were told their belongings would be packed and removed from their apartments by ServePro, a restoration company working with the apartment complex. But when Ortiz and Guerrero received their property, they said several items were missing.
“All of my jewelry. It’s gone. I have a watch too that’s gone as well,” Guerrero said.
While KSAT was interviewing the roommates, another displaced resident, Paola Chavaria, approached the crew to share a similar experience.
“I noticed whenever I got my belongings back, I noticed some of my jewelry was missing, and some AirPods as well,” Chavaria said.
The residents said they tried repeatedly to get answers from apartment management but were unable to obtain information about the restoration company handling residents’ belongings.
“They told us that they have an agreement with them, so they couldn’t give us any information — no phone numbers, nothing,” Ortiz said.
Chavaria said she has also sent emails and made phone calls seeking answers but has not received a response.
Both Chavaria and Ortiz said they have filed police reports regarding their missing property.
KSAT visited the Oasis Apartments seeking comment from management. An employee at the leasing office told the news crew it was not permitted on the property and referred questions to a company email address.
KSAT reached out to the apartment complex through an email. On Wednesday, an Oasis Apartments spokesperson sent the following statement:
“The Oasis team is deeply thankful that no residents or staff were injured in the tornado that impacted our community.
“Our engineering, insurance and recovery teams performed careful evaluations of the property, and we already have recovery efforts underway.
“Our team is committed to returning belongings to residents as quickly and safely as possible. The safety of our residents remains our top priority throughout the recovery process.”
Oasis Apartment Management Team
We also reached out to ServePro for comment.
A ServePro spokesperson told KSAT the company is looking into the residents’ concerns to determine what happened and whether the missing items can be located.
That spokesperson said over the last two weeks, ServePro did not have full control of the property, and many other contractors and people were in and out of the damaged building. They are currently working to figure out how they can help solve this situation.
For the displaced residents, the missing belongings have added another layer of stress after losing access to their homes.
“I’m trying so hard to keep my patience, but at the end of the day, it’s very overwhelming because those are items that us students work hard for, and I just don’t think this is fair,” Chavaria said.
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