(NECN: Justin Michaels, Cranston, RI) - Some residents at a Rhode Island apartment complex are out of their home this morning, thanks to flood waters. More than 60 people in Cranston were rescued Monday, thanks to the quick work of emergency teams.
It's now the job of building inspectors insurance adjusters figure out just what's going to happen next. In the meantime, 60 people are out of their homes wondering and being thankful for their lives.
"It was awful. Just awful," says Casey Medas, property manager at the Dean Estates apartment complex in Cranston.
The Dean Estates complex had 16 feet of water in it Monday afternoon.
"Right now we are just regrouping. We are waiting on the insurance, the building inspectors to come back and see exactly what is wrong with the building."
If these water lines are any indication, at least on the lower levels, that's probably a lot. That’s not to mention there are at least three sinkholes on the property now.
Medas says this is obviously a huge loss. It's yet to be seen if it's a total loss, something the building inspectors will eventually figure out.
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In all, 60 people have now been displaced because of these floodwaters. The complex management put them up in hotels for the duration until some sort of resolution is found.
The National Weather Service reports nearly 3.5-inches of rain fell in Cranston Monday; four inches were reported in West Greenwich.
As you can imagine, as this was happening, people who live here were fearful for their lives.
"Within seconds the entire bottom floor was completely flooded. I had to get my fiancée and her grandmother out of the apartment before… And I could barely get out because the water was rushing and so fast."
"I live on the bottom floor and the water was this high at my door, my patio door, and it just started coming in like a river."
"I almost drowned going through the water, third time this is happened to my vehicle, now we have no place to live."
One of those sinkholes did injure a firefighter. That person was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries but is now at home resting and recovering.
"The firefighter is doing good, none of the tenants were injured, so that's a plus… That's a godsend you know what I mean?"
After the building inspections are done, they're hoping to escort people inside on the second third floors to get some belongings.
And something that’s not comforting to people who live around here is there is a slight risk of thundershowers Tuesday afternoon.
