HOUSTON — It was a scene straight out of a disaster film, and sadly, it was the reality Marquis Harris and many of his neighbors at the Gables Post Oak apartments were forced to live through when a large pipe burst in the complex early in the morning last Friday.
"I thought I was in a twilight zone -- water coming from the elevators, just pouring out. The water was just rising. It was crazy," Harris said.
"I'm, like, I don't even know how to swim. I'm, like, what if it gets higher? Like, what am I supposed to do? so I really did get scared," Karla Duenas said.
Seven days later, when KHOU 11 stopped by, the scene was still chaotic and the smell in the air was still pungent.
"The smell was even more rancid than it is now," Harris said.
Harris lives on the first floor and told KHOU 11 News, like many of his neighbors, his floors were soaked for days.
The flooding ruined his mattress, soaked all sorts of clothing, and worst of all, destroyed electronics -- like the camera equipment and drone he uses to earn a living. As for the response from property management?
"To be treated like this, it's inhumane," Harris said.
Residents explained they're especially worried about mold, and some like Marquis said property management won't let him break their lease or even discount next month's rent. We heard the same thing from resident Aaron Brown.
"You turn our apartment into SeaWorld, you ruined my mattress, and now you don't have the decency ... it’s just mainly very disrespectful," Brown said.
Other neighbors, like Duenas, have a different but potentially bigger problem. They received an email from property management that explained their lease had been canceled and they had seven days to vacate the property.
"It's been frustrating. It's been depressing. I don't know what to do at this point," Duenas said.
KHOU 11 tried reaching out to property management to get answers, but like many of the residents we spoke with, we're still waiting to hear back.