00:00Duarte, you can't really tell from here, but the sheriff says about 20% of the roof collapsed this morning,
00:06and he said that, ironically, the weather may have kept people from coming out to the store,
00:12so there were only a few dozen people inside when this happened.
00:17I heard the loudest crash. I actually thought it was like a tornado or something like that.
00:24Like, it actually made my ears ring.
00:26Ken Collada was inside BJ's when he noticed part of the roof leaking.
00:29Less than a minute later, he watched as another portion of the roof collapsed.
00:33I looked to my left, and I see water pooling, you know, just rushing towards me,
00:39and that's when I saw the roof and just get out quick, you know, like, just run.
00:46The Monmouth County Sheriff's Office activated its mass casualty protocol using canines and drones
00:51to search for anyone trapped under the collapsed roof.
00:54Thankfully, no one was injured.
00:55Roughly 30 employees and customers were in the store at the time.
00:59There were reports of two trapped folks, but they have since been located and evacuated and rescued and were uninjured.
01:05Hampering the search in the beginning, we had a major gas leak, which New Jersey Natural Gas had taken care
01:11of,
01:11as well as a refrigerant leak.
01:13The immediate area around BJ is dealing with extreme flooding.
01:16The roof of the nearby Sherwin-Williams also collapsed,
01:19and police responded to dozens of calls for stranded drivers, including Pawan Kumar.
01:23My guys got stuck. It's broke now. He's not working. No engines, no nothing.
01:28Folks are being asked to stay home if they can.
01:30Drainage is not good in the Ocean Township area, so please stay clear and do not be on the roadway
01:36if you don't have to.
01:40And flooding has also been confirmed just a few miles away at Jersey Shore Medical Center's unit,
01:46the Adult and Pediatric Trauma Center, and in the emergency unit.
01:49Thankfully, though, care has not been affected, and normal operations continue.
01:55Reporting live in Ocean Township, New Jersey, I'm Katie Corrado, PIX11 News.
