FLORENCE, Ky. -- Families who have called the Florence Inn home are being forced to move today following the Northern Kentucky Health Department shutting the hotel down.
Even though the hotel's deplorable conditions are the reason these families are leaving, some said they are more worried about possibly being left homeless.
"We don't know where we're going right now," said Kristina, a Florence Inn resident who didn't want to share her last name. "All the hotels have jacked their prices up high because they don't want us to come there."
It's move-out day for #FlorenceInn residents. What's next for many of them who fear they will be homeless? @WCPO pic.twitter.com/rss6dpHljQ
— Briana Harper (@BriHarper_TV) September 14, 2015
Broken windows, bad wiring, bed bugs and leaks are just a few of the things inspectors from the health department found in April when they visited the Florence Inn. The most dangerous, though, was a tipping water heater spewing carbon monoxide.
A month later, only half the critical violations were fixed. There was still mold, exposed wire and decaying flooring.
When health inspectors returned last Wednesday -- a deadline they gave motel management to fix the problems -- they were so unsatisfied they decided to shut the place down, yanking its permit.
"Something needed to be done besides just inspections," said Steve Divine, director of environmental health and safety. "It's gotten to the point, through deterioration and things not being taken care of in the manner that they need to be that, moving forward, we have a concern for the health and safety of those folks."
Rodney, a man who stays at the Florence Inn and didn't want to give his last name, described the motel as a "$10 million slum."
"Right now, I turn my air conditioner on and I get flies through my air conditioner," he said last week.
WCPO has tried to contact a motel manager for comment for the past week, and after multiple interview requests, the motel's owner said they still plan to make changes to resolve the safety concerns even with all guests leaving Monday.
