did anyone survive the condo collapse

Sharon Schechter, 60, described her escape to WPLG, saying she believes she was only one of two people who survived from her floor when the 12-story oceanfront Champlain Towers South near Miami partially collapsed early Thursday morning. WSVN-TVSunbeam Television Corp Alfredo Lopez and his wife describe how they escaped the crumbling Champlain Towers South on June 24, 2021. As many as nine victims, or about 10% of the death toll, remained alive and buried under the mountains of debris after parts of the 12-story residential building in Surfside, a quiet neighborhood just outside of Miami Beach, caved in on June 24 around 1:25 a.m. Search efforts . Sadly, no one . What we know about the building collapse so far. ALVAREZ: Yes. Surfside condo collapse victim Luis Pettengill played college tennis at Indianas Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, from which he graduated in 2007. TALLAHASSEE June 24 will mark one year since the tragic partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building thatclaimed the lives of 98 residentsin Surfside. A high-rise condo building in Surfside, Florida, partially collapsed on June 24, leaving at least 95 people dead, with as many as 14 potentially still missing Tuesday afternoon. Steve Rosenthal said he was woken up when he heard a loud noise and felt his unit shaking. A family who survived the Surfside condominium collapse said they were mere feet from losing their lives. "There was no . "Nothing's ruled out. ALVAREZ: I was only thinking of myself. It's not known if those factors played a role in the collapse. Champlain Towers South is the 13-story beachfront building that collapsed June 24. A total of 98 people died when the building partially collapsed on June 24, 2021. She kept telling me what to do. And I hear car alarms going off, I see lights flashing everywhere. And we went down the stairs. Schechter said as soon as she got out, all she could think about were her neighbors that might have still been inside. A Florida judge on Thursday approvedasettlement of more than $1 billionto families who lost loved ones in the collapse of the beachfront condominium building. I (opened) the doors and a wall of dust hit me," she said in the filing. Crews searched for hours but were unable to find her, the report said. The 25-year-old caught up with his mom and sister and they continued to run from the scene. As the search for survivors enters its fifth day, those who escaped are recounting harrowing tales of survival after last week's condo collapse in Surfside.At least 10 people have been confirmed . The rumble was followed by a loud crash and debris as part of a condo complex collapsed in Surfside . And there was an older lady and they were helping us out of the rubble. Yes. Newsroom: (305) 795-2777. GARCIA-NAVARRO: So what does that make you think? "People were yelling, 'help me, get me out, help me.'". Although he and his family are safe, Longobardi said they are all "shocked. A class-action complaint updated on Nov. 10 alleges that the towers were badly damaged and destabilized because of excavation and construction at the neighboring 18-story Eighty Seven Park condominium, according to court documents. We got to the stairwell and when we opened the door, that's when everything really hit, because half the wall to the stairwell was missing, it was kind ofopen airstairs, so now we're just racing down as fast as possible.". Initially, 150 people were thought to be missing. The collapsed condo was about to begin . She still hears the screams from that night. It's still unclear what caused the condominium, which has withstood decades of hurricanes, to partially collapse. The identification brings the total death toll to. At least 10 people have been confirmed dead, but over 150 are still missing as of Monday afternoon. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency in Miami-Dade County "to provide assistance for the families impacted by the Surfside tragedy," according to the order issued Thursday evening. Gabe said it sounded like construction but in the middle of the night, it was suspect. "We were screaming 'Help! Survivors recounted hearing signs of the collapse and attempting to escape the building early Thursday morning. An engineer apparently warned the building's condo association of major structural damage back in 2018. Coco, a black and white tuxedo cat, was left behind after her 89-year-old owner was pulled to safety from her fourth floor apartment. And the fire escape door wouldn't open, but I saw people on the other side, and I banged. They then descended to the garage where they encountered shin-deep water, ultimatelyescaping Alfredo with a woman frozen from shock hoisted over his shoulder through an opening in acrumbled wall. Victims also appear likely to get some money from the liability insurer for Champlain Towers Souths condominium association, which has at least four lawsuits pending related to the collapse. The National Institute of Standards and Technology,the main federal agency conducting the probe, has said it expects the investigation to take at least two years, as every piece of evidence must be thoroughly analyzed, and all hypotheses evaluated,according to its latest statement. He thought the ordeal could not be real, but he said he knew it was real when dust fell on his face and saw more of it out of his window. And I - my apartment is in the front of the building, and it's right across the elevators. From the balcony of his vacation rental in Unit 1106 right by the collapsed wing he saidhe saw a grey cloud covering the entire building. Survivors of Surfside condo collapse speak out 03:45 The Miami-Dade Police Department is leading an investigation into the incident. I thought, oh, tomorrow on the news, we're going to hear about, you know, tremors in Florida. Support . It just makes us really grateful, but also sad. OfeOsin-Cohen, anotherfourth-floor resident who escaped,told NBC's "Today" showshewassound asleepwhen she hearda weird sound and feltthe building shake. "We cannot say what is the reason for that from the satellite images but we can say there was movement here.". Alvarez is still dealing with the trauma. "I was prepared for the whole building to come down," one survivor said. I don't even know why. What did you see? Discovery Company. 3:07 PM EDT, Tue July 6, 2021, Video shows boy rescued from rubble in building collapse, saw that a major section of the condo complex had collapsed. Rodriguez helped neighbors escape to a second-floor balcony where firefighters helped them to the ground. Did anyone survive the Surfside collapse? He ran to his apartment to drop off his dog, and when he returned to the wreckage, he heard screaming under the rubble. And she got the last condo in a 16-unit building that was opened up rent-free to Surfside survivors for the month of July. That was a very difficult night, Scheinhaus said. And I remember telling 911, 'I can't explain anything right now, you guys have to come here ASAP,'" he said. A woman who survived the collapse of a condo building in Florida has shared how she escaped. The Champlain Towers South Condo Association was preparing to start a new construction project to make updates and the condominium had been through extensive inspections, according to Kenneth Direktor, a lawyer for the association. "I walked out with my pajamas and my phone.". I had just taken all of my mother's pictures - all the pictures of our family to that condo two days before that because I was going to sort them all out. NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with Susana Alvarez, who lived on the 10th floor of the building that collapsed in Surfside, Florida. The family reached the third floor, where they helped a young woman and an elderly residentget to the ground floor. "Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency," the statement noted. The 60-year-old told WPLG she had to climb over rubble through the dark with her dog. I went with the people. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. De Moura lived in unit 1004. Search and rescue personnel work onsite after the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Fla., north of Miami Beach, on June 24, 2021. ", She made her way to a nearby stairwell and tried to exit on the pool deck, but the door was jammed. And there were two men and a young man with us, and they were helping us. Can you tell us what happened? Firefighters officially ended their search for bodies in the debris of the collapsed Surfside condo building on Friday Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Steven Rosenthalwasasleepin a corner unit of the12-story Champlain Towers South buildingthat collapsed last Thursday when he heard the loudest thunderclap times a hundred that I ever heard in my life.. They have no luggage. Without hesitation, I did exactly what she told me. All rights reserved, How to Help Victims of the Surfside Building Collapse, Deeply Emotional': Families of the Missing Visit Site of Florida Condo Collapse, Viral Kids' Star Ms. Rachel Is Taking a Break From Social Media After Backlash Over Co-Star Who Uses They/Them Pronouns, Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), Flight Attendant Hit the Ceiling': 7 Hospitalized After Severe Turbulence Diverts Flight to Virginia, Check Your Change! 2. And the building was covered with smoke - smoke everywhere. "Good Morning America's" TJ Holmes asked them what the collapse sounded like. ", Longobardi, who is a civil engineer, said they found a staircase that was completely intact and he quickly checked for cracks or other signs of damage before they used it to escape. GARCIA-NAVARRO: Where are you staying right now? Capponi's organization, Global Empowerment Mission, has distributed roughly $75,000 in gift cards among surfside survivors, and he's also working with hotel and condo owners to find places they can live for the next two months. In the first 48 hours, we obviously did not have all the resources, Burkett, the mayor, told USA Today. Raysa Rodriguez, a retired postal worker who lived at Champlain Towers South for 17 years and was close to paying off her mortgage, described in a lawsuit she filed against the condominium association how crashing sounds roused her from bed the night of the collapse. Multiple survivors have recounted that their entire apartment was rattling before the collapse. It was destroyed in the collapse, but thanks to the persistent nature of his significant other, he is still alive today. Associated Press. All rights reserved. However, NPR has been able to confirm that the meeting did take place in 2018. And there was maybe two apartments left in my floor, and I banged on their doors. She convinced him to have a beer at the dining room table. More than 150 people were unaccounted for after a high-rise condo building partially collapsed near Miami Beach early Thursday, leaving at least four people dead and 11 injured, officials said . ALVAREZ: I am near the building. "It's just sad. A few seconds later, his bed and room began to shake and Rosenthal jumped out of bed to see what was happening. After a failed attempt duringthe 2022 legislative session, lawmakers in May returned to Tallahasseeandpassed legislation designed to prevent a similar disaster. They chose to live in Champlain Towers South. No other survivors were found even after an international coalition of rescue workers labored for two weeks, working 24 hours a day, to dig through a 40-foot high pile of rubble. Thanks for contacting us. Mr. Candiotti, 67, knows he was lucky to have survived the collapse last month of the condo building in Surfside, Fla. At least 97 of his neighbors did not. Its a miracle. A woman who survived the collapse of a condo building in Florida said she escaped by climbing through the rubble in the dark with her dog. Alfredo and Marian Lopez were sound asleep around 1:30 a.m. Thursday when they heard the first boom, like a crash of thunder from a Florida . "I don't have anything," said the 62-year-old survivor of the condominium building collapse just outside Miami. These Valuable Pennies Are Worth Thousands, Mysterious Cases of Men Found Dead After Leaving NYC Gay Bars Ruled Homicides: ME. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Sara and Eyal Nir have six kids and two of them, Gabe and Chani, moved into the condominium building with them. But, I mean, I can't get into the building. Rescue teams have tunneled into an underground parking lot for the condo building, creating a 125ft-long trench in an attempt to find air pockets in which people may have survived. I see cars going inwards, underneath the building underneath the building is the car garage. ", Workers load a stretcher with remains extricated from the rubble into a Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner van, near the Champlain Towers South condo building on Friday. July 23, 2021 / 11:29 PM / AP. 00:25. Nicholas Balboa said he had been walking his dog past midnight on June 24 when he felt the ground shake and saw that a major section of the condo complex had collapsed. Last Wednesday night, hours before the collapse, Erick De Moura was walking out of girlfriend Fernanda Figueiredos Miami Beach home to head to his condo in Champlain Towers South. I have a good job, and I'm not destitute. At that point, I turned around. That was my home. As Sara and Chani ran from the building, Gabe called 911. The report from the firm of Morabito Consultants said the ground-floor pool deck was resting on a concrete slab that had major structural damage and needed to be extensively repaired, and uncovered abundant cracking and spalling of concrete columns, beams and walls in the parking garage. Before sprinting to the beachto safety, Aguero said thegroupcrawled up about three feet of rubble on the first floor andovercamea three-foot gapby the pool. Praying that the building didnt fall on me, collapse on me. One unit over, and I am gone, Rosenthal added. Scene at family reunification center, where 'it's the waiting that's getting to me' Its not like her, and its not like me, and when I woke up at 5:30, I understood why.. Thats a horrifying thought, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told the outlet. She did - to yoga with me. "Any time we hear like, 'boom,' or just something that's very unusual, anything that brings those flashbacks, it's just terrifying and it's very traumatizing," he said. Legal Statement. U.S. President Joe Biden subsequently approved an emergency declaration in Florida and ordered federal assistance to supplement state and local response efforts in the wake of the partial building collapse. On Tuesday, Balboa told CNN in a phone call that the boys uncle reached out to him on June 28 on Facebook, and also called him to say thank you for saving his nephew. 2023 www.tallahassee.com. Contact this reporter at kvlamis@insider.com. Usually it's hard for me to sleep because you have the screaming echoing in my mind and it just brings those flashbacks. That was my home. That's when the family started hearing loud noises. GARCIA-NAVARRO: But you know if you'd done that, you might have lost your life. 0:41. And there were no elevators, just open holes. Surfside Resident Who Survived Condominium Collapse Wants Answers NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with Susana Alvarez, who lived on the 10th floor of the building that collapsed in Surfside, Florida An investigation by USA Today found that at least nine of the 98 people killed in the tragedy initially survived the June 24 collapse, including one woman who was possibly still alive under the rubble 10 hours later. A Warner Bros. Some of the medical examiners reports reviewed by the newspaper showed injuries such as broken legs, possible fractures or small cuts that wouldnt have resulted in immediate death, the report said. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. When you start hitting seven days, that really goes down." Survival depends on several factors - mainly access to air and water, ability to regulate body temperature, pre-existing health conditions, injuries sustained during the collapse, and mental will to live. Nine of the 98 Surfside victims may have SURVIVED the initial condo collapse: Fire rescue logs show woman was alive in rubble for TEN HOURS. The flooded garage was located underneath the building's pool. An eyeglass store refilled her prescription, even though she never called it in. Fires have flared up throughout the day, adding to the danger for the search and rescue teams, according to the official. Deven Gonzalez, left, and her volleyball teammate Liyah Deveaux. At approximately 1:20 a.m. on June 24, 2021, Champlain Towers South, a 12-story, 136-unit condo building at 8777 Collins Ave., Surfside . Authorities tallied a total of 98 deaths in what is one of the worst building collapses in U.S. history. "Pancake collapses tend to 'stack' floors on themselves, bringing all their weight down nearly square on the . We took out $15 million to fix that building at his say-so. "That was a very difficult night," Scheinhaus said. In May:DeSantis signs condo reform bill a response to Surfside building collapse into law. And they opened it, and I just ran. That was a very difficult night, Scheinhaus said. I could hear people crying and screaming for help, Lopez told the Herald. Most residents were asleep. We're going to hear now from one of the survivors of that collapse. July 14, 2021 / 6:01 AM / CBS Miami. (Liyah Deveaux) By KELLI KENNEDY. I was only thinking of getting out. One provision stipulates that condos taller than three stories must be inspected every ten years. So Sara went to the front lobby to talk to the security guard. Alfredo used to joke to his wife she'd have to bury him there. Friends she's staying with outfitted her with new clothes and a computer. Gabriel Nir narrowly escaped a first-floor apartment with his mother and 15-year-old sister. But her mother, Angela Gonzalez, and her sister, Deven Gonzalez, did survive. It was like a sandstorm. So far, only five people have been confirmed dead. I go as near as I can. Aguero, his wife and two children, were visiting South Florida from New Jersey. Initially, 150 people were thought to be missing. So far, there is no evidence of foul play, according to Levine Cava. The couple lived in apartment No. I have friends in Surfside. She then went down to the garage to discover it was flooded with water upto her ankles. Their car was destroyed in the building's garage. SURFSIDE As many as nine of the 98 victims who died in the worst building collapse in modern U.S. history might have survived the initial cave-in, a USA Today investigation suggests . "I remember screaming to my mom and my sister, 'Run, run, just run for your life,'" Gabe said, adding that he heard screaming from others and it felt like a nightmare. The final missing person in the condominium building collapse in Surfside, Florida has been recovered and identified, according to the Miami-Dade County mayor. WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports | Fort Lauderdale, Damage forces evacuation of Miami Beach apartment building, Ordered to leave their homes, Crestview Towers residents speak out on evacuation, Remembering the victims of the Surfside condo collapse, How you can help those impacted by the condo collapse in Surfside, Coral Gables resident still refuses to sell decades-old home surrounded by massive development, Broward County pastor faces several fraud, grand theft charges after defrauding church, Gunman dead after hours-long SWAT standoff at SW Miami-Dade apartment complex, Police: Man fatally shot 3-year-old son, himself inside Coconut Grove condo, Police arrest student who made false bomb threat at Dillard High School; classes resume. June 2021: The collapse. "Without hesitation, I did exactly what she told me. "While we're running, we're thinking, we don't know what's going on. Just white, concrete dust," he said. Meanwhile, another 120 people have been accounted for, according to Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. If the cause of death could have been multiple things, and we dont have enough evidence to say definitely what it was, we dont list possible causes.. I dont even want to think about it, shesaid. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. I mean, this doesn't just happen. Authorities have opened a family assistance center at the Surfside recreational center for individuals unable to locate loved ones who live in the Champlain Towers South. Not only were they working against the instability of the structure, but rescuers also battled underground flooding, fires,smoke and wind and rain from Tropical Storm Elsa. 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The public may view the reports by going to WSVN.com and clicking on "FCC Public File", or by visiting the FCC's website at FCC.org. But on Thursday, exactly two weeks after the 12-story . I could hear them screaming. July 5, 2021 4 . This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. The Champlain Towers South condominium was built in the 1980s and was up for its 40-year recertification, according to Surfside officials. Switchboard: (305) 751-6692 You feel sorry for them, and I wish we could've done more for them.". Anyone with family members from the condominium who are either safe or still missing is urged to call 305-614-1819 to account for them. Susana Alvarez fled her home on the 10th floor of Champlain Towers South, escaping with her life and almost nothing else. ALVAREZ: Yes. Despite a search and rescue effort that went on for weeks, no signs of life were found past the morning of the collapse on June 24. GARCIA-NAVARRO: It was an unimaginable situation. So far, they have rescued 35 people who were trapped in the building and two others from beneath the rubble, according to Jadallah. It was like 'Titanic,'" she said. "Nothing like this has ever been seen, at least not in the 40 years I've been doing this," Direktor told ABC News. Thats how we got out.. "It could have been a very different thing," Janette Aguero said, her voice wavering with emotion. But, at this point, nothing to indicate that.". At least four people have been confirmed dead and 159 others remain unaccounted for. A massive search and rescue operation has been underway since early Thursday, as crews carefully comb through the pancaked wreckage and remaining structure in hopes of finding survivors. With her dog in her arms, she had to climb through rubble and over cars to escape. It wasn't until they opened the door to the hallway that they realized what had actually happened. / CBS News. No one ever, ever, ever told us that this - that that building was in such bad shape - no one, no one. (CNN) After several weeks of searching and waiting for news on victims from the Champlain Towers South condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida, all 242 people have been accounted for. Did you encounter any technical issues? "My initial reaction is wow, we were so lucky. We talked aboutitand we say it's about 15 feet that we survived by, if we had been 15 feet to the right, it would have gone down, or half of the apartment would have gone down," Aguero said. Reach him at JDelgado@gannett.com. Please enter valid email address to continue. I also want you to know that that couple - that they keep saying in the news that 1001 - it's a man and his wife - that the niece was visiting them - they were the nicest people, the nicest people, were always - I'm by myself. "That was a very difficult night . The 12-story residential complex in the small, beachside town of Surfside, about 6 miles north of Miami Beach, partially collapsed before 1:30 a.m. local time on Thursday. The family is now living in a hotel and dealing with the trauma of that night. For more information on this site, please read our Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Searchers for a second day combed through the massive pile of debris following the collapse of a Florida condo building, as officials vowed to keep looking for anyone who may still . I really didn't think anything of it. 2023 Cable News Network. For now they are staying at a nearby hotel, the floor of their room cluttered with items donated by friends and strangers. It's like a motor it just goes fast, fast, fast," he said, adding that they don't even know where to start. Condo building's collapse prompts historic search-and-rescue response 4:54 p.m. The couple said their 22-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter were "mere feet away" from the part of the building that collapsed. Its about the lives that are there.. They are. The action authorizes the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) "to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in Miami-Dade County," according to a statement from the White House.

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