Three families are homeless tonight the house they were living in collapsed last night. I visited the scene this morning.
Jacqueline Godwin Reporting,
This was the scene at 7005 Antelope Street Extension when 7News arrived at the residence inside the home we found one of the young family members, nine year old Aaron Rhaburn picking up the broken pieces of plates that fell and scattered over the floor when the three bedroom wooden house collapsed. This five door cabinet that hung above the kitchen sink was also knocked off the wall.
Kayla Stephen, Victim of House Collapse
“Right where the cabinet dropped I was standing up so if I didn’t hear it the bruk, that would have dropped on top of me. So then all I could have done was grabbed my baby and run outside.”
The home may have been small for the three families including five children ages two months to nine years old but it was a place offered to them to stay five months ago despite the fact that it was in need of repairs but there was nowhere else they could go or afford so they sought shelter inside the house.
Lydia Ray, Property Owner
“In a sense they needed some posts because of the water damage when the flooding and stuff like that. So I told them they can have the house but they need to maybe get a loan or go to their area representative and ask his assistance in giving them aid to fix the house or even if they can go to the bank and get a loan or something like that. I don’t know.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
“But outside of that your family would not have had anywhere else to go. That is why you offered them to stay here.”
Lydia Ray,
“I have a nephew who he recently have a baby, the baby is just like 2 months old, and they needed a place to stay too and this house has like three bedrooms and also my niece she just started working, she is saving money to go to school and all that. So I told her before getting a house for rent you can stay in this house and then she can save her money and use her money to go to school rather than paying somebody else’s mortgage or something like that. So she took up one of the rooms and then my other niece took up the other room so each member was in one room and between all of them they decided they will try to get the house fixed.”
But that turned out to be more of a struggle for the impoverished residents who claim their cries for help went unanswered so they had no choice but to move in to the home.
Kendra Polanco, Victim of House Collapse
“My auntie told me we could stay in here because this is a family
house and if we go to rent somewhere that would be a lot of expense. The money we would have spent on paying rent, we could have used that for different uses to help buy groceries, pay for utility bills, and so. I went to Mr. Finnegan and I told Mr. Finnegan we need help, I need help, we have a house, I don’t need no house from him, all I need is for the house to go on foundation because the post rotten. Mr. Finnegan had me up and down, up and down and now thanks to he the house dropped.”
It all happened around nine on Monday night.
Kayla Stephen,
“Actually I was scared because first time that ever happened to me so I didn’t know what to do so all I could do was just run out of the house.”
Kendra Polanco,
“Now that the house dropped, the roof cracked, the leaking begin, the post broke in the house, the verandah cracked up, the door can’t shut. With the dropping of the house a lot of damage happened. This wouldn’t have happened if just the foundation had gone correct and get fixed as we needed help. If that had only gotten fixed, if you could see we haven’t even fully moved in yet. We just started moving in the stuff slowly and then maybe too much weight from the house and that caused the house to collapse.”
One of the wooden posts that supported the house now sticks through an opening in the flooring that was created when the building fell. The house was between three to four feet above ground when it dropped and pushed back some five steps
away from where it originally stood on the property. We also noticed that water that had rushed out of the galvanized pipe which broke under the weight of building was already beginning to make its way under the back door after flooding along side of the house.
Of course this morning’s heavy downpour did not help matters as the rain water started to fall through several cracks created as a result of the collapse. These containers were used to catch the falling water as it fell inside the house. According to the family, what started off as an enjoyable Monday night quickly turned into a horrifying few minutes that they will not soon forget.
Kendra Polanco,
“So everybody was on the verandah playing dominoes and we just heard collapsed and I thought it was my two friends who were in the house because I thought they broke my glass table but then I heard boof and I noticed that the house dropped because of we the things dropped up on.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
“And the heavy rain this morning did not help.”
Kendra Polanco,
“No the heavy rain surely did not help because as you can see the video which we showed you, the whole bathroom is leaking like you are standing outside.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
“Kayla did you anything before the house collapsed?”
Kayla Stephen,
“Actually I was at the back door and I was talking to one of my friends and then I actually heard the board cracking. So then I told him wait and by the time I heard the board the crack, I moved from the back door and as I moved from the back door, the house dropped and the cabinet dropped.”
The home at 7005 Antelope Street Extension is the second to go down on the city’s southside in just one week. In the first incident which 7News featured on July seventeenth, this was all that remained of forty year old Arleen Banner’s five room residence at 32 Benbow Street after it buckled and fell four feet to the ground. Today Arleen Banner and her family now resides in their newly constructed wooden home after the collapse structure was replaced by the assistance of their Area Representative Dean Barrow and former area Representative Anthony Boots Martinez.
Today the residents at 7005 Antelope Street Extension are hoping that their area representative will come to their aid.
Kendra Polanco,
“I know Mr. Faber he will help we. He is our Area Rep. and he is here for all of us back of Collet so I know for sure he will help we.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
“So what will happen to the family, we have three families affected here, where will you guys be spending the night?”
Kendra Polanco,
“Well that is the serious part, that is the other part what will happen right now because we don’t know where to go, we don’t have nowhere to go. We need help and surely we can’t stay in this house like this. If the house is leaking, the house already doesn’t have water because the pipe bruk so the water is disconnected from the house so we don’t have nowhere to go, no water to use, we don’t know what to do.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
“Kendra doesn’t know where she’ll be spending the night, where will you be staying?”
Kayla Stephen,
“Actually I got my mom but I don’t really like the burden on my mom because my mom has my sisters to take care of too so I don’t know where I will stay right now. Actually this was a good house, nothing was wrong with it, all we needed was just new posts but now since the house dropped the roof, we need a whole house now cause the roof cracked, when it rained this morning it was like we were outside actually because the whole house just got flood out.”
Lydia Ray,
“I would like for Mr. Patrick Faber and Mr. Finnegan to please try to help these people which is my family because if they don’t, they don’t have anywhere to go and I really wouldn’t like to have all of them at my house.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
“And that is because your house is too small.”
Lydia Ray,
“My house won’t be able to fit everybody.”
