ORLANDO, Fla. – Eleven Orlando residents remain displaced after overnight storms damaged their apartment building’s roof at the Summerfield Apartments, which was under construction, causing their units to flood.
“The bathroom was flooded, the ceiling was peeling, there’s water dripping through the fan,” Jerleisa Tyree said.
She said it was the second time and second year in a row her apartment building was flooded because of roofing issues. In fact, she said she has sent the property management staff multiple emails complaining about the issue in the hopes it wouldn’t happen again.
“We lost everything that we ever owned here,” Tyree said.
Sabrina Daley, the property manager, said in a statement that they recently purchased the complex and were making repairs to the roof. The tarps installed, as repairs were being made, became unsecured during the storm, leading to the flooding.
On Saturday, May 21, the city of Orlando code enforcement condemned the building until further notice. It means the building was deemed unsafe to live in.
She said she was given a notice to evacuate for non-payment on Friday and already began to pack. Tyree said she received rental assistance from Our Florida to pay her rent, but she was still told to leave.
She said around the time she stopped packing her things for the move is around the time the storms began.
“I never imagined my child having worry about having a roof over her head, having clothes or food to eat,” Tyree said. “We recently went grocery shopping. We lost all of that.”
The Red Cross placed Tyree and Londyn at a nearby. The nonprofit will cover some of the costs until Tuesday, May 24.
Tyree said if they need to stay past that date, then she would need to pay out of pocket.
Daley said they expect the repairs to take some time so they will work with residents to transfer them to other apartments or release them from their lease.
A friend of Tyree created a GoFundMe page to help her.