New surveillance video showed the moment rainwater started flooding an elevator at Vendome Place and the heroic actions of one man inside.
Rick Sardana was heading down the rear elevator to move his sports car from the on-site parking to protect it from the heavy rain that fell across South Florida.
He was riding the elevator with another man and his young daughter when the elevator got stuck.
“The elevator rocked, completely stopped, and then water started to seep in,” Sardana said.
He said he’s lived in the building located on 43rd and Collins for seven years, but never expected something like this to happen.
With water quickly pooling around their feet, Sardana worked on prying the doors open.
“I somehow put my fingers into the elevator, it took me a couple of times and, God knows how we managed to get the elevator door open, we came out onto the car park floor and the water was waist or a little bit higher level and we just walked through,” he said.
Bruno Barros was also taking the elevator with his 4-year-old daughter, Giordana.
The moment water started pouring in, he picked her up and said he tried not to panic to help her stay calm.
“We heard this boom and after this boom, it shook the elevator, and then the water starts to flood inside and we spent 20 seconds just in shock,” Barros said.
He said in that short time, his neighbor jumped into “superhero mode.”
“She said that I was her superhero, but Rick was our superhero. God gave him so much power in that moment,” he said.
Sardana said an employee at the condominium told him it took just eight minutes for the area to go from dry to waist-high flooding.
He also said other condo residents shouldn’t take any chances the next time it rains.
“Even if it’s heavy flooding or heavy rain and you’re unsure, lean towards the side of always taking the stairs,” Sardana said.
He said he was happy to be OK. His sports car ended up being a total loss in the rain’s aftermath.
The condominium has not commented on the video, but a crew from the elevator company was seen leaving the building and giving a thumbs-up.