Where I live is in a "state of emergency"

CantePe · 06-24-2012, 01:05 AM

You read that title right.... My heart cries tonight for the people injured and missing in our small town.

Our mall collapsed today (well part of it). I don't know numbers per say but unofficially 4 dead, 30+ missing in the rubble.

We're national news today. 230 pm our upper parking lot met with the bottom floor of our mall, taking out a kiosk, escalators and elevators...one man was crushed as he traveled the escalator to the second floor. One lady was trapped under the truck (one of two vehicles that went through) that fell through the roof. Everyone (no numbers known) in the barber shop below the second floor were crushed and one of two ladies in that kiosk died.

It's horrible and it was PREVENTABLE! The owner didn't give a rat's ass about the mall and refused to do any repairs that were desperately needed. For 15 yrs this community has said that the mall should be torn down it is that dangerous. It finally happened and people are suffering because of the bottom line...profit.

Want to know what blows my mind about this... If I hadn't have been late for work today we would have been in the grocery store on the first floor with our children. The day before, I was on that upper level with my baby boy and we parked across from where it happened not less than 24 hrs earlier....

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING IS THE AFTERMATH OF THE COLLAPSE - IT IS GRAPHIC.

CantePe · 06-24-2012, 01:13 AM

If you want to learn more: Elliot Lake Mall, Roof Collapse CTV News June 23rd 2012 - YouTube

that_girl · 06-24-2012, 01:25 AM

State of Emergency means that federal money will be used to help repair. That's good.

So sad about the people who lost their lives just because some cheap bastard didn't want to take the time to retrofit the building

TBT · 06-24-2012, 01:31 AM

Sorry for the suffering in Elliot Lake.Saw it online at first.There were emergency recovery teams on the way last I heard.I'm praying that they don't find more dead.Whatever the consequences are to the owner,they'll never be enough to make up for the loss to all the families involved and to your community in general.

EleGirl · 06-24-2012, 01:45 AM

How terrible!! Words are not enough for this.

I'm sure that the owner is sweating his fate at this point. Are there inspectors that should have caught the chance of this structural failure some time ago?

CantePe · 06-24-2012, 03:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EleGirl

How terrible!! Words are not enough for this.

I'm sure that the owner is sweating his fate at this point. Are there inspectors that should have caught the chance of this structural failure some time ago?

It passed inspection in March, how I don't know. It wasn't suppose to. There was a building in SSM (sault saint marie, north of us) that is the same blue print as our mall that collapsed the same freaking way! THEY all knew about this structural set of issues.

I'm so ripped pissed about this, the whole community is...