Opal Tower residents reveal horror stories after building ‘cracks’

While some of the Opal Tower residents have been allowed to return, people living in 51 of those units are still locked out. Some of these residents reveal the financial burden, as well as not being able to fall asleep since the building “cracked” on Christmas Eve.

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They have been evacuated out of their homes when “cracking” noises were heard coming from the Opal Tower unit block in Sydney Olympic Park on Christmas Eve.

While some of the residents have been allowed to return to the building, people living in 51 of those units are still not allowed to return for their own safety.

Here are the stories of some residents of the Opal Tower and how the defective building has impacted their lives:

MOVING AGAIN WOULD BE TOO COSTLY

Ilya Levchenko was given the all clear to return home on Christmas Day with wife Anastasia Chen and their two children, but he was woken up at 7am on Boxing Day by a strange “tick” noise in the building.

“After this sound I was not able to sleep more,” he said.

They signed a one-year lease only four weeks ago and had barely finished unpacking. Mr Levchenko, a permanent resident from Russia, said the family would stay because moving again would be too costly.

The couple and their two-year-old twins Ivan and Alina were taken in by friends on Christmas Eve.

Ilya Levchenko, his wife Anastasia Chen and their two-year-old twins Alina and Ivan returned to their unit in the Opal Tower. Picture: Tim Hunter

QUITE SCARED

Jenny Song paid for her own emergency accommodation on Christmas Eve while her cat was trapped in the tower.

“We had to get an Airbnb room (at) $410 for three nights. To be honest, I am actually quite scared because it is not guaranteed that it is 100 per cent safe. Even if it gets fixed, nobody can assure us that it is going to be safe for the future,” she said.

UNCERTAIN

Delsa Daryaei, who rents one of the 51 units deemed unsafe, was forced to leave with her mum and doesn’t know when she will return or whether she’ll be asked to pay the $600 rent going forward.

“We’re worried — how long are we going to stay in a hotel? Who is going to answer us? No one is taking responsibility.”

She wants to break her lease, which still has six months left.

Opal Tower resident Delsa Daryaei has not been allowed to return back to her unit. Picture: Simon Bullard

BARELY SLEPT

Ehsan Jahanandish has been allowed back home but says his wife Saghar Asrar is scared the building will crumble and has barely slept since due to nightmares of emergency alarms going off.

The 35-year-old said he was told there would be at least another day’s wait before engineers complete further assessments of the 51 damaged units. He said he spotted water leaking through the walls of the tower’s basement carpark.

The future is still uncertain for some residents of the Opal Tower building. Picture: Bates Smart

WAITING FOR REPORTS

Sultan Keles, 37, lives in the building with her husband and three young children. She took her family to her parents’ home in Granville when the building was evacuated.
“We are just waiting for the reports from the engineers as to find out what exactly happened and how serious the problem is.”

LOOKING ELSEWHERE

Cindy Somsiriopars and her partner had to pay $300 for two nights accommodation at a hotel in the CBD. The 26-year-old said the evacuation was “scary”.

“We had no choice,” she said.

“We don’t know what could happen … we will be looking for somewhere else.”