MIAMI TOWNSHIP, Ohio — One year after an EF2 tornado tore through the Goshen area, several residents with damaged homes have been unable to return to them.
“We went and hunkered down in our laundry room,” Eric Perrmann said. “As soon as you heard the boom, it just started raining in our laundry room.”
Perrmann lives in the Miami Township area. Part of an oak tree fell on his family’s home during the tornado.
“Because so many people were looking for tree services, we had to leave the tree sitting in our house for six days,” he said. “It was very expensive for our family. It cost probably around $11,000 to get re-homed."
One year later, most of the rooms in his home look like a construction site.
“This has taken our financial security and it's just done it out the window,” he said. “I'd never imagined it. I mean, I could sit in here and cry.”
Perrmann blames his contractor, Alzaria Construction, for the delays. He said the company did not fulfill promises about when work would be complete. He said he terminated his contract with the company this spring, and now the insurance money supporting his supplemental housing is running out.
“We're trying to figure out how we secure money through a lender,” he said. “Whether we should liquidate our personal savings or our personal retirement accounts.”
They’ve also started a GoFundMe.
“I want my home back,” said Angel Johnson, a resident in Goshen who expressed similar concerns about Alzaria Construction. “My bed was out in this driveway for months until February when they finally demolished my house.”
On Thursday, there was a concrete pit on her lot where her home once stood.
“I still feel like this is my home, but it makes me sad,” she said. “Because I feel like he's taken away my home.”
WCPO spoke with an individual who identified himself as an attorney for Alzaria Construction. The man told WCPO that the contractor has been fighting against roadblocks on Johnson’s home while getting permits and securing insurance funding.
He also said that Perrmann owes Alzaria money for work completed, which Perrmann denied. The attorney said his client said the allegations from both customers are “categorically false.”
Both Perrmann and Johnson also said subcontractors have notified them that they have not been paid. The attorney said those instances are a result of either a customer not paying or a dispute over some of the subcontractor’s charges.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office received six complaints about Alzaria Construction last year. The office could neither confirm nor deny the potential or existence of any investigations into the company.
“To have had an unexpected natural disaster just completely compromise your family's financial present and future, it's unbelievable,” said Perrmann.
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Before and after: EF2 Goshen tornado leaves damage in its wake
'Didn't know if we'd make it out': Tornado touches down in Goshen, Ohio; Residents left to pick up the pieces
One year later: Goshen Township still rebuilding after tornado's significant damage
