Surfside condo collapse memorial.Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty
Several of those whose lives changed forever after the 2021condo collapse in Surfside, Florida, are speaking out about their experience one year later.
The tragedy unfolded on June 24 of last year, when 98 people died as a result of the collapse at Champlain Towers South.
In an interview withThe New York Timespublished on Friday’s anniversary,Angela Gonzalez and her daughter Deven— who survived the tragedy but lost their husband/father Edgar Gonzalez — described the empty feeling their loved one’s death has left behind.
“On days when we’re doing fine, I’ll forget that my dad’s passed away. Or I’ll think that he’s working long hours, and he’s going to come home. But he doesn’t,” said Deven, 17. “Then you feel guilty, like you’re doing good without him. If you don’t miss him, it’s terrible. But if you miss him, it’s terrible, too.”
Angela, 45, added that despite what people see as “resiliency” in her and her daughter, that doesn’t mean it’s “easy” to move forward without Edgar. “It’s not. It’s so much easier to not come out of our bedroom. But we choose to face this every day,” she said.
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Angela Gonzalez and daughter Deven.AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Capt. Eddy Alarcón told theTimesthat his “only regret” about his involvement in the search-and-rescue mission “is not having found a live person.”
“I had all the training. But nobody’s had this kind of experience except for the guys that went to9/11. I dream about it. I can picture the faces. The things that we witnessed,” said Alarcón, 52, who arrived onsite one day after the collapse and stayed for three weeks.
“Everybody was so physically and mentally exhausted. I came back with pains in places I didn’t know existed,” added Alarcón, who hadn’t been involvedin a search-and-rescue deploymentfor more than 25 years before the condo collapse.
Today, he makes sure to not “bottle anything up,” and calls being able to talk to his family his “therapy.” He also heads recruit training for the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department, noting that he “couldn’t deal with operations … for the first couple of months after the incident.”
But still, “I’d do it again. It would probably hurt me just as bad. But that’s what we do,” Alarcón said.
RELATED VIDEO: First Lady Jill Biden Attends Surfside Memorial Marking 1 Year Since Condo Collapse: “We Stand By You”
“Somebody needs to be held accountable,” said Pablo, 56, whose daughterNicky Langesfeldand her husband, Luis Sadovnic, died in the collapse.
For Martin, 24, he “never thought [he] would miss” the “sibling fights” between himself and his sister until she was gone.
“No family member, aftersuch a catastrophe, should need to beg and push their state leaders to make a difference,” he also said.
Pablo Langesfeld (R).Joe Raedle/Getty
“We are pleased to announce that the plaintiffs steering committee, together with the receiver, was able torecover in excess of $997 million,” they said.
“It will never be enough to compensate them for the tragic loss. This settlement is the best we can do. It’s a remarkable result. It is extraordinary,” said Hanzman, per CBS News.
source: people.com
