TAMPA, Fla. (Bay News 9) – A Florida family affected by Hurricane Milton says a mishap during work to replace their roof caused their entire home to collapse.
The Sowell family knew this Christmas would be spent with friends and family, but they never dreamed they would be helping them salvage whatever they could from their collapsed home.
“It went from the 23rd of December at 6:30 in the morning, everything was fine, hunky dory, to by 1:30 in the afternoon, we lost our entire house,” Victoria Sowell said.
Hurricane Milton damaged the family’s roof, and after being on a waiting list with a roofing company, Sowell says crews finally arrived early Monday morning to start work. At first, she says she was excited about getting a new roof for Christmas, but by lunchtime, she realized something wasn’t right.
“When we came back and walked in the house, there was light. You could see light from the wall to the ceiling, and I said, ‘Oh, bad word.’ I immediately took pictures, sent them to the foreman and said, ‘We’ve got a problem,’” Sowell said.
Within a matter of minutes, Sowell says she and her husband heard the first cracks.
“I started screaming, ‘Stop! Stop what you’re doing!’ So, we started grabbing stuff, saying stop, stop, stop. The tree was right under where the wall was starting to crack, and I grabbed all the Christmas presents and the tree. The people came in, and they were like, ‘Oh my God,’” Sowell said.
The family safely escaped through a bathroom window, but within 10 minutes, Sowell says the entire house collapsed. Pictures taken by a neighbor show roofing supplies piled onto the roof, which is sinking.
“There was a lot of material on the roof. When code enforcement came, they did not think it was handled properly, that maybe it was too much weight. I have talked to my insurance, but nothing has happened yet,” Sowell said.
Even though this is far from the Christmas that Sowell envisioned, she knows her family will make it through.
“We will rebuild or whatever we’re going to do. It’s a testament to our family and how we can handle things,” she said.
The family says they’ll stay with relatives for Christmas and then work to figure out where to go next. A GoFundMe has been set up to help them as they start over.
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