The moving story of a Miami collapse survivor who was “miraculously” saved

Over the hours, new stories are emerging after the collapse of the Champlain Towers South complex, north of Miami Beach. Steve rosenthal He is 72 years old. For two decades he lived in unit 702 of the residential building. Last Thursday he experienced from the inside how the structure collapsed, but luckily he managed to “miraculously” save himself.

In dialogue with The New York PostHe said that around 1:30 a.m. he heard “the loudest noise” of his life. Within seconds, “the bed and the bedroom began to shake.” At that moment he thought he was “dreaming”.

Amid the strong shaking, dust began to fall from the ceiling. Rosenthal, who works in the advertising and entertainment industry, moved into the hallway, where she saw the ceiling crumble. There he heard the shocking cries of his neighbors.

“I heard people shouting, ‘Help! Take me out! ‘ I know these people, they are my neighbors; it is something very sad. You can’t do nothing against all the concrete and everything fell “said the tenant of Champlain Towers South, who claimed to have been saved “by a miracle”.

“One more unit and I’m not here”, he said.

Rosenthal came to take a picture of the common hallway, just outside the door of his apartment. It shows the path blocked by concrete, steel and other debris, preventing passage to the rest of the seventh floor units. “I opened the door and that’s what I found.”

Seeing this situation, he ran to his apartment to change and get some things. Then he waited on the balcony to be assisted by the rescue teams.

“I was scared. Suddenly I looked on the balcony and there were 40, 50, 60 fire trucks. It was crazy. They shouted at us ‘you have to evacuate, we are going to save you'”, he said.

Shortly afterwards, the firefighters, aboard a forklift, helped him and a few other people and brought them to safety. “Thank goodness I’m alive, I think my parents were looking after me,” he said enthusiastically.

Amid suspicions about the condition of the building after the collapse, Rosenthal said he was never alarmed by the condition of the building. “I saw the cracks in the balcony, but now that I’m looking at these reports from the structural engineers, things should have been done years ago.”

Rosenthal filed a lawsuit against the building on Saturday and is working with Global Empowerment Mission to help survivors.: “We raised $ 250,000, and we’re giving that money to the survivors directly on money cards: $ 1,500 each, and they get a box of essentials.”

Meanwhile, state and local authorities are redoubling their efforts to locate the survivors in the rubble. On Sunday, the official death toll rose to nine and there are 156 missing.

On the fourth day of the search, authorities gave in to the request of relatives of the missing and allowed them to approach the collapse site to cry and pray. “There will be an opportunity for visitors and it will be a very private event,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor. Daniella Levine Cava.

The families left in the afternoon on board two buses from the Grand Beach hotel, where a family reunification center was installed, to the vicinity of Champlain Towers South, now called “Ground Zero” of Miami- Dade.

However, hopes have faded since They ask families for DNA samples to help identify bodies and remains extracted from the rubble.

The Mayor of Surfside, Charles Burkettsaid residents of the collapsed building who were safe were relocated to nearby hotels. When asked what was needed, he said “there is still room for donations.”

At the same press conference, where the mayor of the city of Miami also presented, Francois Suarez, we learn that a private organization has donated more than a million dollars.

This is the Bravo Family Foundation, which according to its website was created “to promote entrepreneurship, community leadership and economic development”.

Well done Orlando, founder of the firm, said his experience is based on the humanitarian aid he provided in Puerto Rico for the victims of Hurricane María, in 2017: “Federal resources are good, but sometimes they take a long time to come. As a foundation, our mission is to help people ”.

The administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Deanne criswell, announced that his organization had already launched a system for applying for financial assistance for affected families. The official admitted that non-profit associations have also joined.

With information from EFE

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