Shartel Towers without working laundry machines

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Shartel Towers is in the headlines again, this time residents say they haven't had working laundry machines for nearly a month.

One woman News 4 spoke with says herself, like many others at Shartel Towers are disabled, so it is hard enough for them to get around, making it impossible for them to find another way to do their laundry.

"You have to wash your underwear in the sink, think about that," a resident at Shartel Towers said.

That's what some residents at the Shartel Towers have been forced to do as they wait for the laundry room to get fixed.

We spoke to a woman who asked us not to show her face, fearful of retaliation, but she says she can no longer hold her tongue.

"Here it is almost a month later, and we still don't have laundry," she said.

She along with many others don't have another option to wash their clothes.

"A lot of people are disabled," she said. "They can't carry their laundry out to the laundromat, you know, and so it's just piling up and it's sad."

She says communication with management has been minimal.

"I've left a message for the manager twice in two days, and nobody's ever called me back," she said.

We reached out to the Oklahoma Housing Authority who oversees Shartel Towers. They told us over the phone that they had to replace the drain line, and the parts they needed were on back-order.

They say crews are working on it this week.

"It's just sad," she said. "I think it's just not run properly. No notice given to tenants about when, where, what or anything or any resources to help us get our laundry done."

While the tenant News 4 spoke with is glad to hear things should be fixed soon, she is worried the back up of laundry could leave the laundry room in chaos.

"You'll have to pull a ticket to get in that place when it first opens," she said. "It's going to take me three weeks to get caught up on my laundry."

The person we spoke to with the Oklahoma Housing Authority says the hope is to have washing machines working on three floors by end of day Wednesday.