Ian flooding leaves hundreds of families homeless after Orlando apartments destroyed

ORLANDO, Fla. - Around 200 families at an apartment complex flooded in Orlando say they're without a home and don't know what to do.

"All my furniture, food, clothing, everything I own. It’s gone. Everything is gone," says Miriam Alicea. Her apartment flooded during Hurricane Ian. "I thought I was going to drown it's sad."

Sad, because everything inside is now destroyed. Behind the Cypress Landing Apartment complex, there’s a mountain of debris. "You see the mark? That’s how high the water was."

The walls are already filled with mold. You can’t see it, but you can feel it. Just being inside it’s really hard to breathe and my eyes burn.

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Miriam says, "I stay here, there, everywhere I can. A cot in the back if I can." She pays $894 a month for her one bedroom.  She’s waiting to get reimbursed for her October rental payment. She's one of two hundred residents, hoping to get more help from the apartment complex. 

"They said they’re going to give us the security deposit back which is not much and that are not going to put us in a hotel." 

Making the situation more difficult, Commissioner Mayra Uribe says the residents are being given different information, and they don't know what to believe. "They have all attempted to get some information from the management office with no success."

Feeling devastated, Miriam and her brother hold each other for support. "We’re not going anywhere, we’re here. We need a place to live because it stinks in there." 

Again we reached out to managers at Cypress Landing but haven't heard back. I also reached out to the American Red Cross, and they plan to help residents here. Currently, the shelter in their neighborhood is full. Uribe says there is another shelter with room, but it's further away and residents don't have transportation.