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The 13 or so families had until Friday to figure out what was next, given that the Red Cross, having deemed it a natural disaster, subsidized them for a day.
There was no telling when they'd be permitted to live in their homes again.
No one was hurt, Police Capt. Vincent M Bellucci said.
The heavy rain "came rushing down" and broke through the storm line between Bergen Boulevard and Fairview Avenue below around 2:20 a.m., Bellucci told Daily Voice.
The torrent collapsed the side of a wall in an auto body shop's impound lot before heading past Bar One toward the apartments at 570 Fairview Avenue.
It created a huge sink hole at the apartments, cracked the building's foundation and shifted the gas main, Bellucci said.
The building sustained extreme damage not only to the ground-level apartments but to the basement and utility room, the captain added.
The Building Department deemed the residences uninhabitable for now, he said.
Heavy machinery was brought in to remove the rocks blocking Fairview Avenue, Bellucci said.
"The water took care of the rest," he said.
Although many landed on area properties, some rocks rolled off the cliff behind the apartments, landing in a Linda Lane backyard.
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