More than 130 Southeast D.C. residents have no home to go to after Thursday's storms whipped through their neighborhood and ripped the roof off of their apartment building.
"I just happened to look out the window and just saw everything spinning, then it just dropped down. It was crazy. I was so scared," said Miche Richardson, a displaced resident.
"It sounded like a big wind, then the lights went out," said resident Cynthia Robertson. "Next thing I know, the whole roof is in the street!"
Thirty-six families, including children and elderly residents, call the Washington View apartments on Stanton Road SE home.
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"We don't have anything. Everything is boarded up at the apartment building now. I have never had to deal with anything like this before," Richardson said.
On Friday, the families were allowed to go back to their apartments to gather what they could.
They also met with District agencies led by the D.C. Department of Human Services and the Red Cross to begin the recovery process.
"Today is where we're really going to spend time, one-on-one, multiple agencies coming together dealing with folks as a family unit to help them begin a road to recovery, which is going to take a long time, as it does in any disaster," said Paul Carden, the director of emergency services for the American Red Cross.
"We are really concerned about the emotional aspect of this, the anxiety. And that's one of the things the District is trying to do - relieve as much or minimize as much anxiety that the families may have," said Dora Taylor, with the D.C. Department of Human Services.
DHS is providing hotel rooms for the families for the next two weeks. The owner of the Washington View apartments is working to find them short-term housing as repairs are made to the building.
