FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Days of rainy weather is believed to have led to a ceiling collapsing early Friday morning inside the bedroom of an apartment unit in Fort Lauderdale.
The incident occurred just after 1 a.m. in the area of Southwest Fourth Avenue and 19th Street.
A woman who lives at the home told Local 10 News reporter Parker Branton that she and her boyfriend were sleeping when water started coming in through the roof.
“The roof or the ceiling was falling on my head, so I looked up and then it just started coming down more and more,” Keia Jones said. “So I woke my boyfriend up. I said, “Babe, get up.” Because all this water was coming from the ceiling. And as soon as I woke him – seconds after I woke him up – the whole roof collapsed. We had to literally jump out of the way so it wouldn’t fall on us. I mean, everything is destroyed.”
The couple placed towels on the floor in an effort to soak up some of the water.
Jones said they first noticed water coming in before they went to bed Thursday night.
“We put a towel in the window to absorb the water,” she said. “We eventually laid down and went to sleep and I stared hearing water pouring, like pouring.”
Jones said they dodged the worst of the debris, but looking at the aftermath hurts.
“All my clothes are wet,” she said. “I bought an area rug for the room -- that’s wet -- water all over my room, the whole floor is soaking wet, plus plywood from the ceiling all over the place.”
The couple is cleaning up and hoping some of their belongings can be saved. They say they are also grateful they weren’t hurt.
“It is almost fell on us,” Jones said. “It almost fell on us. Thank God we are OK.”
Jones said the Red Cross is going to assist them for the time being, but she has no idea yet where they will stay.