Chicago weather: Woodlawn senior building apartments have been without heat for days, residents say

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Multiple residents of a senior building in Woodlawn say their units have been cold since Sunday morning.

One resident told ABC7 it has been as chilly as 55 degrees at night.

When ABC7 arrived at the building in the 6100 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue, a city buildings inspector was there, checking on residents who had called 3-1-1.

One of the tenants, Betty Powell, said management had dropped off a space heater on Tuesday afternoon, which warmed things up a bit. But the inspector said the temperature there was still reading 67 degrees in one of the rooms. That's below the 68 degrees mandated by the city.

Powell said she woke up to an ice-cold apartment on Sunday morning, and the vents have continued to blow cool air.

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"And I couldn't go to sleep. If I nod off, I get up, because I keep the oven on," Powell said.

Experts say people shouldn't sleep with the oven on, because it can be dangerous.

"That's why I couldn't sleep. But that was the only way I was going to keep warm," Powell said.

Messages left for the building manager were not returned, but a person who answered the phone did tell ABC7 that they are working on restoring heat to some units.

"When I say cold, I mean it was cold. This hoodie right here was all over my head," said Margarett Brewer, another resident.

As of Tuesday morning, the city's office of emergency management and communications said there have been 531 complaints of no heat and 136 requests for well-being checks.