PANAMA CITY BEACH — Julie Davis expected the water to be working for the $3,000 the Chicago resident paid to vacation this week at the Sunrise Beach Condominium complex on Panama City Beach.
But it was off at the high-rise condo at 14825 Front Beach Road for at least 24 hours, residents said, from early Thursday morning through early Friday.
That left hundreds of vacationers staying in the building, including Davis, scrambling for ways to clean up and flush the toilet.
The vacationers said they were notified the water system was going to be repaired starting at 1:30 a.m. Thursday and was supposed to be on in the morning. But something went wrong with the repair job, and the water stayed off all day Thursday as well, they said.
Officials in the front office of the complex, which is managed by Wyndham Vacation Rentals, said they had no comment.
Davis said she took the experience in stride, noting she is a former property manager and realizes that sometimes things can go wrong with repair jobs.
“There was a nice sense of community,” she said. “People were helping each other out. People had a good attitude about it. Things could be worse, right?”
She said she hadn’t washed her hair in two days.
“We brought water in to flush the toilets,” she said.
She also said the experience has not soured her on Panama City Beach. It was her first trip here.
“I love it here,” she said. “It’s beautiful.”
Vacationers said the building managers tried to help.
Portable toilets were installed by the parking garage. Trash cans filled with water were put up at the end of the halls so people could swipe water out of them to bring back to their rooms to flush their toilets. Some residents used the waterfall mushroom next to the swimming pool to clean up, while others used a hose by the wooden steps accessing the beach.
Lisa Harlin, vacationing from Kentucky, said the experience hasn’t made her bitter.
“I think most everybody dealt with it very well,” she said. “It was nobody’s fault. It was just a freak thing, but we love it here.”
Brian Dickey, also vacationing from Kentucky, was jovial as he talked about the experience.
“I’ll say this: As a whole, it was amazing how everybody did stay pretty calm,” he said. “Kids just kind of laughed about it. I asked my daughter this question: ‘What’s more important: electricity or water?’ And she said, ‘electricity.’ But that’s wrong. Water is more important, so it was also a life lesson learned.”
Russell and Christina Odom were staying at the complex with their son, who was participating in a baseball tournament. Russell Odom estimated the water might have been off as long as 30 hours.
“We had to use the Porta-Johns,” he said. “Everyone was taking showers in the ocean and the mushroom waterfall by the pool.”
Christina Odom said managers tried to accommodate the guests.
“They were really quite kind,” she said. “They left the pool open all night. Usually they close it at 10 p.m.”