MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – It was late Friday night and although Hurricane Dorian was approaching Florida, Miami Beach police officers said a heartless landlord kicked an elderly woman to the curb in South Beach.

The 75-year-old woman with platinum white hair stood near the stairs of the second-floor building's stairwell. She was looking over all of her life's belongings.

Neighbors said her landlord had scattered them on the ground like garbage in front of the building at 735 Euclid Ave. After saying her name was Maria, tears rolled down over her wrinkled cheeks.

"I paid my rent," she said, adding that her landlord refused to renew her lease.

A man who was walking by had called 911 for help. Police officers and Miami Beach Fire Department personnel responded.

"We do not handle or take part in any eviction process," Officer Ernesto Rodriguez, a spokesman for the Miami Beach Police Department, wrote in an e-mail, adding that the Miami-Dade Police Department handles evictions.

The newly homeless woman faced several threats. With the ongoing king tide and the possibility of the hurricane's storm surge, Miami Beach is also preparing for the threat of flooding.

Police officers and firefighters gathered around the woman. Curious neighbors stood outside, and when firefighters opened the door at Apartment 16, they clapped and cheered. It was a small victory. The woman was able to recover the medication she had left inside, but her bed and mattress were still on the street. She remained homeless Saturday.

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