Surfside condo-collapse video is haunting for what we didn’t see: the people inside | Editorial
There’s the power of what we know happened to a Surfside condominium, then there’s the rattling, wrenching effect of what we saw happen.
Surveillance video of the collapse of the Champlain Tower South Condo is a haunting vision, one playing on a mental loop long after we’ve watched it again and again on television or our computer screens.
The word “heartbreaking” cannot be overused. Because what we saw were typical beachfront buildings, standing there as they always had. Then one section suddenly went down in a cloud of thick dust. Then, another section, as if deliberating for a second or two, followed suit.
It’s no overstatement to say that the one-two punch in the gut was a flashback to two other towers that fell, this time in New York City. A bigger, badder event, yes. Still, the out-of-the-blue shock of it all.
And, of course, like 9/11 the awfulness of knowing that, though you could not see them, people were living their lives inside — and then they weren’t.
It just took your breath away.
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This story was originally published June 24, 2021 at 5:03 PM.