Shortly after an online morning meeting on Aug. 12, Puja Ramaswamy heard bricks falling from the roof of the Chicago three-flat residential building she and her family live in. Between 9:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., 1227 W. Jackson Boulevard in the city's West Loop neighborhood was evacuated. Shortly after, the entire structure, built in the 19th century, shifted and was saved from complete collapse only by leaning on its neighbor, 1241 W. Jackson.
“We could have been on the patio,” Ramaswamy told ENR, who left the premises with her husband and is staying with friends in the neighborhood. She also said she was glad the couple's two children were in school at the time, as they often play outside.