ATLANTA — For the people who survived the Surfside condo collapse, starting over is a process. 11Alive's Kaitlyn Ross spoke Tuesday to a family who survived the collapse and lost everything.
The Nir Family moved from Atlanta to Florida last year.
"So many families, so many loves ones. I don't have any words. Just praying to God," she said.
Sarah Nir said the last three weeks have been hard and she is still trying to wrap her mind around what she saw, and what she survived.
"It was really quiet so I started to pay attention to the noise around me. I heard knocking noises. It sounded like someone hanging pictures," Nir said.
Nir described how she was awake with her son and her daughter on June 24. She said as the noise got louder, she went to talk to security to see what was going on----- that's when the garage collapsed.
"I told them, I screamed, run, it's an earthquake, run," she said.
The Nir's condo was on the first floor, and without wasting time she ran back to her family. Her son Gabriel gave his account on Joseph Waks's Instagram account.
"I feel the ground opening in the front and my mom starts screaming, earthquake, earthquake," he said.
He said his mom and sister got out as fast as they could, and he called 911.
"I start to see all white dust, like smoke, and I hear the ground shaking, it was a loud rumble, and I saw my mom and sister, RUN! And I started running and running," he said.
The Nir family was told their 1st-floor condo is now eight floors underground. They escaped with their lives but lost everything else.
"Me and a lot of the survivors, we don't like to ask for help. We don't want to feel hopeless," she said.
Nir said the survivors have come together to try and support everyone who lost someone in the collapse.
"Right now everyone is around you and hugging you, you're in the center and people are thinking of you. But what happens a month later? People move on and you're alone with your trauma," she said.
Nir wants to help however she can, while she heals herself. She said anyone who wants to help can donate through the Miami tragedy fund.