Horror Stories: A Flooding Rain on the 18th Floor

This lovely nugget, from Harriet V., reminds us that rain is basically the devil— it'll still get to you high in an apartment building:

I live in a 105 unit high rise on South Shore Drive in Chicago on the 18th floor on the East (lake side) of the building. For 2 years (once on Thanksgiving), when there was a rain (or rain and sleet) storm my apartment flooded. Yes, I said flooded on the 18th floor! Water was in the bed room, living room, part of the dining room, bed room closet, and the linen closet in the hall. My apartment is only 650 square feet, so virtually all of my space was affected. I called the building management as well as the building engineer. The engineer looked under my radiator which covers the entire wall in the living room and dining room. I was told they could not understand why my apartment was flooding. Again, I'm on the 18th floor! I had to discard shoes and clothing that was stored in boxes either in the closet or under the bed. My furniture was water-logged, so that was discarded as well. Oh my God! the stench from the mildew was unbearable. I had to live with family members for 3 weeks until the carpet was cleaned and dried. I have asthma so it wasn't safe to remain in the apartment.

During another storm, my windows began leaking as well! I had pots in the window catching water. The engineer tells me, "your windows aren't leaking, they were just installed new." So I ask him if he sees water dripping into the pot in the window. After failed attempts to rectify the problem, I called the Tenants Organization. They never answered the phone or replied to an email.

Finally, I told management that I felt the building needed tuck pointing. Of course they denied that possibility. I told them I could actually hear the water running between the walls during a storm. They still denied. Finally I told them if they didn't do something about the problems [in] the building, I was going to report them to the city and contact the media. Finally last year the windows were re-glazed, and the building was tuck pointed. Now when it rains or sleets, I don't panic. —Harriet V.