WASHINGTON — Mutiple residents at Cielo apartments in Northeast, D.C. said they were kicked out and left with nowhere to go after a massive water leak on Thursday.
Videos taken by renters show hallways covered in water, leaking in the stairway and inside the elevators. Renters told WUSA9 this is not the first time it's happened. In fact, it's the third flood in the building since June.
“Yesterday, people got a call saying you just have to go," resident Nikki Peele said. "They asked if they could go into another unit. They were told 'this is up to your renter’s insurance- up to you and them to figure something out.'"
Peele said the flooding started on floor 12, but spread down to the lobby. While some residents are staying with friends, others have nowhere to go.
“It should not take people like yourself, coming out from the news media, to get us answers but these are the only answers we’re getting," Peele said.
WUSA9 reached out to Cielo and the PR firm for LCOR, the property management, for comment. A spokesperson said a valve on the 12th floor caused the flooding.
“Our on-site maintenance team immediately coordinated with the contractor to identify and repair the issue," the spokesperson said. "We are proactively working with the residents whose homes were impacted to mitigate the damage and assess the immediate next steps. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused to our community. We are not kicking residents out as a result of the damage at Cielo. We are working directly with the few residents that have been displaced by the damage to find alternate accommodations while repairs are being completed, including transfers to other apartment homes. We are doing everything we can to ensure residents are impacted as minimally as possible and have made ourselves available for any questions or concerns."
Residents said they are frustrated that issues persist in the building.
“The building has only been in existence for two years --why are we having these big issues," Eriss Donaldson asked.
Those who weren’t affected by the flood now worry they’ll have to shoulder the increase in utilities as a result.
“They installed fans on every floor to dry the moisture," Donaldson said. "That’s going to spike the increase in electricity. Am I going to be billed for that?”
Residents said they have reached out to the Department of Buildings for an emergency inspection but, haven’t received a response yet. WUSA9 has reached out to DOB as well, to get residents some help.
There's no word yet on how long repairs may take or how many units were damaged.