> uhhh what were they going to do? Unlock the door and stop the flood?

"When your bathroom has flooded, the most important thing to do is to shut of your water as soon as possible. If you don’t know how to do it, it’s good to call a plumber and hopefully they can help you shut it off over the phone before they get to your house to assess damage. If the leak is coming from a toilet or sink, there is usually a knob near the pipes that you can turn to the right and shut off. You will also need to shut off the electricity of the flooded rooms with the main breaker. If you see sparks or smell gas vacate your house and call the fire department, only going back in until they tell you it is safe." https://texashomeandgarden.com/idea-center/bathroom/bathroom...

there is usually central knob outside apartment for whole building exactly for these cases, you can shutdown water or gas in while building for outside for this reason