Florida condo tragedy

Jonah Handler, 15 is the only survivor from the Champlain Condo Collapse. From the rubble, he waved his arm through the rubble and caught the attention of Nicholas Balboa who climbed the torn concrete, rebar and shreds of sharp glass wearing nothing more than his flip flops to reach the teen. When realizing he couldn’t move the concrete, he ran for and got help.

The Champlain Towers South Condo is located at 8777 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, FL. It was built in 1981 by developers, Champlain Towers South Associates, that included Nathan Reiber. The smaller building was Champlain Towers North Condo (built at the same time). The third structure was the Champlain Towers East Condo. It was added in 1991. Each of the towers are 12 stories tall. But the South tower that collapsed had the majority of the units (136).

Here is the report of the buildings damage delivered to the Home Owners Association over 3 years ago. Feel free to download it.

Sergio Lozano’s father began having health problems several years ago. Sergio bought an apartment across the street from his parents so he could be there if a medical emergency occurred. Sergio loved looking out the window and watching his mom cook and his father watch TV.

He knew he was doing the right thing by being close to his mom and dad in case they needed him. Then when the building came down, Sergio thought it must be a tornado and looked out the window and said “The building isn’t there. His wife asked, “What do you mean”? And he replied, “The building isn’t there, my parent’s apartment is not there”.

The 8777 Collins Avenue Relief Fund is collecting funds for the surviving families.