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Her family found a photo of 92-year-old Hilda Noriega with her late husband and child and birthday cards given by her friends at a prayer congregation just two weeks ago among the piles of rubble and twisted metal that were once the south wing of Champlain Towers in Surfside, Florida, just north of Miami Beach.
“There was a message in the midst of this chaos,” said her grandson, Mike Noriega, 36. “It means not to lose hope. To have faith.”
Noriega and his father rushed to the scene of the disaster after news spread that part of the building had inexplicably collapsed in the predawn hours of Thursday morning.
Hilda Noriega lived on the sixth floor of the 12-storey building and was among 156 people left missing as rescuers relentlessly search the rubble for signs of life. Her son, Carlos Noriega, the chief of police for the nearby village of North Bay, was among the researchers.
By Saturday evening, officials had raised the death toll to five, four of whom had been identified as Stacie Don Fang, 54; Antonio Lozano, 83, and Gladys Lozano, 79; and Manuel Lafont, 54.
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Mike Noriega said he spoke to his grandmother the day before the breakup.
Mike Noriega displays a birthday card, Saturday, June 26, 2021, in Surfside, Florida, relatives sent to his grandmother, Hilda Noriega, two weeks ago for her 92nd birthday. Hilda Noriega lives on the sixth floor of a Miami building that collapsed. (News agency)
He described her as “the youngest 92-year-old I know…92-year-old 62”.
Her daughter-in-law, Sally Noriega, described her as “just one of those people I’ve met from the first time with someone I liked instantly, and that person liked her instantly.”
Noriega lived in the building for more than 20 years but after her husband died six years ago she decided to sell the apartment and planned to move in with the family.
“She wanted to spend more time with her family and grandchildren,” said Sally Noriega.
Two people who were at a press conference for families on Saturday on condition of anonymity said that some families who were frustrated with the slow pace of recovery efforts had demanded that they be allowed to go to the scene and attempt the collective yelling – an effort in equal measure. To find survivors a healing farewell to those who died.
This photo provided by Sally Noriega shows Hilda Noriega. More than 150 people remain missing as rescuers continue to dig in the ruins of Champlain Towers south in Surfside, Florida, Saturday, June 26, 2021. Noriega has had contact with Champlain Towers for more than 20 years. (News agency)
“Our first priority remains search and rescue and save any lives we can,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniela Levine Cava told a news briefing Saturday evening.
No official cause was given for the collapse, but a 2018 engineering report said the building, which was built in 1981, had suffered “significant structural damage” to a concrete slab below its pool deck that needed extensive repairs.
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But Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said late on Saturday that a city official did a quick review of the North Champlain Towers and nearby East Champlain Towers but “didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.”
Sally Noriega said her family has a strong belief.
Mike Noriega echoed: “Some miracles are very big, others are small.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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