HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - Residents of a north Harris County apartment complex say they are having to live in deplorable conditions after the unit above theirs caught fire earlier this week.
The couple that lives at the Palms at Cypress Station says their unit and belongings were significantly damaged by the water used by fire crews putting out the flames on the top floor.
‘It was flowing from the ceiling,” said resident Talisman Smith. “You can see the water damage, how much water there was. Water over here on the corner on the floor, on the TV, on the couches.”
The ceiling of Smith and her husband’s unit is swollen and brown. The unit smells like bleach after the couple says two days have been spent cleaning.
Smith says she is afraid to plug anything into the outlets fearing they are unsafe because of water in the walls. The couple will not turn on the air conditioning, either.
‘It smells like black smoke,” Smith said. “Nasty, like mold.”
Smith says she spoke with the apartment’s managers asking for help with the cleaning. She says she also requested her family be moved to another unit on the property until the unit gets repaired.
“We asked them to come help us,” Smith said. “No one came, they gave us the runaround. They told us to sleep in the one bedroom, because it wasn’t damaged.”
Smith contacted KHOU 11 News when she was not getting help.
Palms at Cypress Station apartment managers would not speak with KHOU 11 News Friday when confronted with the complaints made by the couple. One of the managers called another supervisor who instructed the manager to tell KHOU 11 News to leave the property and that they would not be answering questions.
Smith says she, her husband and two young sons will be forced to live in the damaged unit for now and says they have no other option.