A South Florida family’s life flashed before their eyes Tuesday morning after their roof started caving in from what officials believe was heavy rain.
A South Florida family's life flashed before their eyes Tuesday morning after their roof started caving in from what officials believe was heavy rain.
The partial roof collapse happened at a duplex located at 916 Northeast 2nd Street in Hallandale Beach, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office Fire Rescue.
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Battalion Chief Michael B. Kane told NBC6 that the collapse was likely triggered by rain.
A mother and her six children were living in the unit that was affected the most. Shocking video shows the partially-collapsed roof and cracking noises can also be heard.
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"Just started hearing cracking and that was it -- it started dropping," Tkyana Bryant said. "About 5:45, I got my kids out and it came down right behind us."
The mother said she was focused on getting her kids out safely.
"I have 6 kids in total. I just started calling them out one by one," she explained. "Make sure nothing fell on them and literally just a mother's instinct – had to get my babies."
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The mother claims her landlord ignored problems following a flood earlier this summer.
"We got flooded out on June 12 and he hasn't fixed anything," the mother claimed. "The doors, the cracks, nothing. This was a problem from the flood. Nothing was fixed."
The mother said she had called code enforcement due to the condition of the building and has an open case.
No one was hurt during this partial collapse. The Red Cross also responded to assist the family.
"I have to find somewhere for my kids to stay, we don't have anywhere to go. This was our home, this was all we knew for five years," Bryant said.
BSO Fire Rescue said a building inspector was also going to respond to find out whether the duplex is going to remain habitable.
