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A family described the harrowing moment when their 11-floor condo collapsed last week in Florida. Albert Aguero and his wife Janette were asleep while their 22-year-old son Justin and 14-year-old daughter Athena were still awake watching Netflix and playing video games.
They heard several booms didn't think much of them at first.
"It was like three gusts of wind," Justin told the Connecticut Post. "The first one was like a normal thunderstorm."
"The second one was like how I remember Sandy," he said, referring to the Hurricane Sandy which hit New Jersey in 2012. "I thought it was a hurricane, maybe the waves were pushing up."
"Our sliding doors started to bend a little, started to give," he continued. "The third one felt like a jet was taking off right above our building."
But, when Alberto and Janette went to check on their kids, they knew something was wrong.
"From where I was sitting on the couch, I could already see a cloud of dust or smoke across the street," Justin said. "You're probably not supposed to do it, but we went out to the balcony to check out what was going on."
That's when they realized the building had partially collapsed and knew they had to leave immediately. They quickly grabbed what they could carry and opened the door to the hallway.
"When we opened the door to the apartment is when we really realized what happened. I look to the left, and there was honestly nothing," Albert told USA TODAY. "The apartment to the left of us had been sheared in half. I looked forward to the elevators, directly across from us, and there was just two holes."
They sprinted down the stairwell, which was collapsing around them. It took them over 15 minutes to make it down the stairs to safety, and they stopped to help other people, including an elderly woman, escape the destruction.
"Once we got to the garage, we had to help the older woman, carry her, carefully throw her, do whatever we had to do to get her over the rubble," Justin said. "We almost fell in some bushes trying to get her over the wall. I was so thankful we got out of there, and all she lost was a sandal."
Once they were outside, first responders directed them to a community center a few blocks away, where they were given shelter, food, and water. The Red Cross helped them find a hotel room, where they plan to stay until they fly back to their home in New Jersey.
"Definitely feel we've been given a second opportunity at life," Aguero said. "We want to make the most out of it."