By Maggie Vespa, Marlene Lenthang and Dennis Romero - NBC News
A 52-year-old woman was rescued unharmed Monday night from the partially collapsed apartment building in Davenport, Iowa, on Sunday. The city's mayor announced that the plan to tear down the structure was "under evaluation."
Lisa Brooks was rescued after more than 24 hours apparently hiding under a couch on an upper floor of the six-story structure, authorities and family members said.
[Video: Shocking images of building collapsing after landslide]
Family members said she heard and felt the building begin to collapse and her reaction was one of survival: she got under the furniture and stood still.
He appeared to be in an unaffected apartment, and when his phone started working again, he called for help, according to family members.
The collapsed building in Davenport, Iowa, on May 28, 2023.Twitter @JohnBlunk via REUTERS
A hundred onlookers welcomed him, while some staged impromptu protests against the city's decision to tear down the 116-year-old building on Tuesday morning.
The rush, including the transition from search and rescue to recovery, is relatively unusual. In a collapse at a condominium complex, albeit a building much larger than the Davenport structure, in Surfside, Florida, in 2021, search and rescue efforts continued for two weeks. In the end, 96 people died.
Brooks was the second person rescued from the building after seven people were initially pulled out immediately after the collapse at 5 p.m. on Sunday, authorities said, bringing the number rescued to nine.
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A woman trapped in the rubble was rescued Monday night and hospitalized in critical condition, authorities and her family said Monday. His wife identified the patient as Quanishia White-Berry.
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Davenport Fire Chief Mike Carlsten said a dozen more residents had immediately left with the help of first responders.
At a press conference Monday morning, Carlsten said the operation would go into recovery mode, and by late morning the city had announced the change had occurred.
"Demolition is expected to begin in the morning," the city said.
Recovery mode indicates the belief that no more survivors will be found. One factor is the apparent instability of the brick-on-steel and concrete building, which began as the city's premier hotel in 1907 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
At Monday's news conference, Carlsten said the state of the parts of the building still standing poses a risk to anyone inside, including rescue teams. "Right now, the building is structurally unsafe," he said.
The municipal authorities are scheduled to hold a press conference on Tuesday at 10.00 am.
