Ceiling collapsed on woman after roof tarp was put on wrong

Published: Updated:
(CREDIT: WINK News)

Tarps are a common sight on the roof of homes in Southwest Florida after Hurricane Ian.

It is supposed to be a quick fix until you can get repairs, but one woman said the roofers didn’t put hers on correctly and as she went to put buckets under some spots that were leaking, the ceiling fell on her.

Karen Esposito thought she was in the clear after the storm with just a few missing shingles but everything changed when some rain started dripping through her tarps.

“It started dripping from the other side and I went to go to get this trash can from the kitchen to put it right here and I’m bent over and then all of sudden, boom, its fall right on my back,” Esposito said.

Esposito said she has a rabbit and she couldn’t find it.

(CREDIT: WINK News)

“I couldn’t find my rabbit so I got a little worried about that,” Esposito said.

Luckily her pet rabbit ran to the corner of her home and avoided the falling ceiling.

“If you have a tarp put on, make sure you have it put on correctly, to cover the peak of the roof so it doesn’t go underneath the tarp and continue to drip through to the roof because then it wet the ceiling and then it will fall. And if it’s not installed correctly make sure you keep an eye on your ceiling so that it doesn’t fall on you or any small pets or children,” Esposito said.

Now, she wants to make people aware of this danger in the aftermath of a hurricane.

“Definitely get it inspected because you just don’t know because once those shingles are gone you don’t know if the water is going to go through and also just keep an eye on the ceilings inside to make sure there are no bubbles or if it looks wet,” Esposito said.

Esposito and her boyfriend are able to still live in the home and were able to get a second tarp to cover the missing shingles.

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