The number of sad stories from the tragic Surfside apartment collapse in Miami, Florida last month is too many to count. One story, however, is quite heroic. When the building went down, this mother fell 4 floors and broke her pelvis. Despite this, she still managed to pull herself and her daughter from the rubble.
Mom Falls 4 Floors, Breaks Pelvis And Still Saves Daughter
Mom Angela Gonzalez proved just how strong the power of a mother’s love is. Last month, she, her 16-year-old daughter Devon, and her husband were inside their ninth-floor apartment in Champlain Towers when the building suddenly collapsed last month. Both mother and daughter fell from the ninth to the fifth floor as their section of the building crumbled around them.
During her fall, Angela broke her pelvis. Despite her severe injury, she still managed to drag herself and her daughter from the rubble. Emergency responders took them to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami where their injuries are being treated. Angela’s husband still remains missing.
“Wasn’t something that I thought I would come down to this, I guess. But pick up the pieces, trying to figure out how to make this work, how to make this better than what it is,” said Lisa Melencial, a family friend. “Even though it’s a tragic scenario. I just want prayers and just the best for her and her family.”
The Tragic Champlain Towers Collapse
Champlain Towers in Miami, Florida was over 12 stories tall and had more than 100 residential units. Built in 1981, Surfside requires both commercial and multi-family buildings to be recertified every 40 years. The reason for its sudden collapse is still unknown, however, there is an ongoing investigation to determine why it happened. The death toll from the event has surpassed 150 while rescue teams continue to search through the rubble.
Why Did The Building Collapse?
What caused the Champlain Towers South to collapse is still unknown. Authorities are eager to find out as quickly as they can so that this can be avoided with some of the other buildings and high rises in the area. There are several groups coming together to investigate this incident.
“It would be like a lightning strike happening,” said Charles W. Burkett, the mayor of Surfside. “It’s not at all a common occurrence to have a building fall down in America. There was something very, very wrong with this situation.”
Structural engineers are baffled as to why a building that has stood for four decades would suddenly collapse on a calm summer night. The current theory is that the failure began near the bottom of the structure – maybe in the parking garage or in the first few floors. They found damage to the entrance ramp, concrete columns, beams, and walls, as well as water damage to the concrete slab above the underground parking garage.
Experts believe that it might have to do with a foundation-related problem such as corrosion or damage. They are also not ruling out design or construction-related errors that have survived for 40 years. Residents also claim to have seen a hole opening near the pool just before the collapse, which again suggests a foundation-related issue. Likely, they will not discover the issue until they remove the debris that is covering the foundations of the building. This will determine whether it was a structural issue or a geological issue, like a sink-hole.
“Whether there’s something geologically under the building that caused this, that’s definitely something that’s got to be investigated,” said structural engineer David Peraza.
Until the investigation is completed, we will have to wait to find out. Hopefully, something like this never happens again.