'This Is A Disaster': Rain Caused Partial Ceiling Collapse At Fort Lauderdale Apartment
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - The soggy weather across South Florida brought down part of a ceiling in a Fort Lauderdale apartment early Friday.
The two people inside the apartment weren't hurt and said they got out of the way just seconds before the collapse around 1 a.m. at 330 SW 19th Street.
"Laying there, I was half asleep, when I looked up, yeah, it was very scary, I'm looking for the whole thing to cave in," said Jeffrey Clark.
Keia Jones, who was also inside the apartment, said she'd noticed some water coming from a bedroom window before they went to bed Thursday night.
"The water was coming through here like it was a hose and I couldn't do anything so I stuck the towel up there, you know," said Clark.
Jones said when she woke up in the middle of the night she heard water and thought it was the same issue.
"When I went to check the window, there was water falling on my head," Jones said. "When I looked up, I saw so much water pouring from the roof. And like five seconds later, I could see cracks coming from the roof and the whole roof collapsed and I had to jump back."
"The water was dripping so much out of the roof, and she woke me up and I think it was maybe 5-10 seconds before the roof actually caved in," said Clark
Clark and Jones said, as of Friday morning, they hadn't been able to reach the apartment landlord for help. The Red Cross responded to the partial collapse and will assist them in finding a new place to sleep for now.
"This is a disaster. I've never been through anything like this before. It destroyed basically everything," said Jones.