DAVENPORT, IOWA — Officials in Davenport, Iowa are gearing up to demolish a six-story apartment building after a portion of it collapsed late Sunday.
At last check, fire officials say eight people were rescued with some of them in unknown condition. So far, there have been no reports of any deaths and officials say there are no credible reports of anyone missing - but residents are fearful that could change.
ABC15's Nick Ciletti spoke to Linnea Hoover who lived on the building's fifth floor.
Hoover is a photojournalist in Davenport and is actually gearing up to join ABC15 next week. After a long day of packing up her apartment, she decided to take a nap when the commotion of the collapse woke her up.
"I sat up and there was just this...it shook. I could feel everything dip underneath me. The whole building moved," Hoover says.
At first, Hoover didn't know what it was - thinking it could be an earthquake or maybe even a bulldozer that had crashed into her building; whatever it was sent her straight for the exit.
"I started going down the emergency staircase and the building had collapsed into the stairwell."
But Hoover says she had no way of knowing just how bad it really was until she made it outside and could finally see it for herself.
"And it just felt like I couldn't catch my breath for a moment. Then there was screaming.... they were saying, 'Run! Just run!' because they didn't know if more [of the building] was going to go."
Despite the chaos of the moment, Hoover started recording what she saw.
"It's hard," she says. "But doing the work helps, being out here talking to people. It really, really helps. Knowing we can do a little for them and the community is rallying behind them."
