WHEN half of the 12-story Champlain Towers South Condo building collapsed like a pancake in a matter of seconds, 88-year-old Esther Gorfinkel was one of the lucky who made it out alive.
Esther, who’d lived on the fifth floor in the Surfside, Fla., luxury residence since it was built in 1981, had felt a shaking shortly after 1 a.m. on June 24, but chalked it up to bad weather thundering in from the ocean in the back — until an announcement warned over an intercom, in English and then in Spanish — to get out now!
The first emergency exit she reached was mangled shut so she rushed to another and found herself with about 15 others clambering down the stairs.
Luckily, they weren’t in the section where about 70 of 136 units — some with price tags as high as $1 million — crumpled to the ground in about 11 seconds, forming a mound of concrete and steel debris more than 30 feet high.
Esther and her group of survivors splashed through a pool of water and debris in the lower garage and reached the beach.
Staring through the huge billowing smoke and ash plume that had been the 120-plus-feet building moments before: “We couldn’t believe what we were seeing,” she says.
They were lucky.
Denne historien er fra July 19, 2021-utgaven av Globe.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra July 19, 2021-utgaven av Globe.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
BEN RUNS OUT OF INK!
J.Lo seethes as ex finally undoes tattoo she hated
CHER DISHES TEEN FLING WITH BEATTY!
Notorious cougar Cher is well known for robbing the cradle, but that's just what happened to her when she was 15 years old and got picked up by screen heartthrob Warren Beatty!
FAT CHANCE PORKY SEAGAL TELLS TRUTH!
Russia deserves cheating chunkster
BARRY BALLISTIC OVER DEADBEAT DAD LABEL!
SIZZLING Irish beefcake Barry Keoghan is going ballistic after internet trolls branded him a deadbeat dad!
J.LO'S HUNKY CATTLE CALL!
Gets her flirt on with sexy staffers
EDISON'S DEMON DOLL!
Lightbulb inventor's not-so-bright idea sent kids screaming
JEN-JOLIE FEUD CATCHES FIRE!
Angie's Oscar buzz riling love rival Aniston
JOSH'S WILD YOUTH OF 'TWEEN TRIPPING!
DEADPOOL 2 star Josh Brolin confesses he grew up as a wild youth, dropping acid when he was just 13 years old and passing out on a sidewalk at 15!
HAUSER FEELS AT HOME ON YELLOWSTONE RANGE!
Digs spurs into Costner
DENZEL'S DEADLY DIET PLAN!
Drops 30 lbs. to recapture past glory