After the collapse of Surfside’s Champlain tower: a day of dread, helplessness, heroism

A sound — almost like thunder that lasted just a bit too long — roused people out of bed in Surfside early Thursday morning. Those who looked out their windows saw a wall of smoke-like debris billowing out from the corner of 88th Street and Collins Avenue, obscuring their view of the 12-story Champlain Towers South Condo that had occupied that stretch of beachfront for 40 years.

When the dust cleared, half the tower was gone. Fifty-five apartments where people had been sleeping just moments before were nothing but a pile of rubble resting at the base of the building’s sheared-off remains. What was left looked as if it had been sliced by a giant knife, brutally exposing the remains of people’s lives like a twisted, life-sized doll house. About half way up, a white bunk bed teetered on the edge.

As the first day of what promised to be a drawn-out rescue-and-recovery effort came to a close, the immensity of the tragedy had only just begun to set in. At least one person was confirmed dead, but rescuers expected the number to rise dramatically. Dozens of people — maybe more than 100 — were still missing.

In dozens of interviews conducted throughout the day, residents, witnesses, rescuers and family members described their experiences during the first 24 hours of unimaginable horror.

This story was originally published June 24, 2021 at 12:00 AM.