HVAC cooling tower falls, causing partial garage collapse near Galleria, Houston fire officials say

[Annoying Anteater]

A devastating building collapse in the upscale Galleria area of Houston left a trail of destruction over the weekend. The partial garage collapse occurred at approximately 6:20 p.m. on Sunday, when crews from the Houston Fire Department (HFD) responded to the scene.

According to eyewitnesses, the disaster was caused by an HVAC cooling tower that collapsed onto the parking ramp, pancaking down and causing significant damage. Miraculously, one individual in the garage managed to extricate themselves and received medical attention before being deemed safe.

Fortunately, no further people were found trapped within the damaged area after a thorough sweep of the site by HFD officials. However, the area was still secured due to concerns about potential hazards or debris.

The cause of the collapse remains unclear, but it has been revealed that the building is privately owned and was inspected on November 18, just weeks before the disaster struck.

As authorities assess the damage and determine the root cause of the catastrophe, residents and business owners in the surrounding area can only wonder what might have been done to prevent such a devastating event from occurring.

 

[Xer]

man this is so scary what if that person wasnt alone?? i dont think its right that they can just lock down the whole area cuz of debris tho, cant they at least try 2 figure out whats gonna happen 2 those businesses?? and honestly how do u even prevent a cooling tower collapse from happening in the first place? it sounds like so many things went wrong

 

[Strateg]

OMG u gotta be kiddin me!! 1 person escaped that's like the ultimate miracle ! Can u believe this was goin down just weeks after inspection?? Like, who's checkin on these buildings? And now its a huge mess.. dont even get me started on the potential hazards . I mean i guess the good news is no one else got hurt but omg what coulda been... so many questions still unanswered

 

[Savage Train]

Ugh, great, another one of these things happens and I'm still waiting for someone to actually get around to fixing the potholes on Main St . On the bright side, at least it's good news that no one was seriously hurt... yet. A cooling tower collapsing? That's just peachy. And now we get to deal with the fun of watching some fancy engineering team figure out why this didn't happen sooner . The fact that the building only got a cursory inspection 3 weeks ago is just mind-boggling... I mean, who needs regular maintenance when you've got profit margins to prioritize, right?

 

[Grumpy Gosh]

OMG u wont bliev wut happend in Houston 2 days ago ! So there was this bldg in Galleria area & it just COLD PASSED out lol (literally) ! The HVAC cooling tower collapsed onto the parking ramp & it was like a pancake down on people! Miraculously, 1 person managed to get out safely & received med attention

I feel so bad 4 the ppl wot might've been trapped underneath tho . I hope the investigation finds out wht went wrong cuz thats def not somethin u want 2 happen 2 anyone . Poor Galleria residents & business owners are probably still shakin' their heids over this .

 

[Street Funk of the Th]

.. this building collapse is like something straight outta a disaster movie . I mean, can you even imagine being stuck under all that rubble? Thankfully it was just one person who got trapped, but still... so many questions about what could've been done to prevent this from happening. I'm thinking about those old buildings back in the 70s and 80s where we used to live in apartments and never thought twice about fires or collapses. Nowadays everyone's all about building codes and inspections, and yeah, that's a good thing... but you'd think it would be enough to prevent this kind of tragedy .

 

[Outstanding Oryx]

OMG this is so sad!!! how many people could've been hurt or worse? luckily one person made it out alive and that's all that matters for now... but what about the others who might be trapped underneath?! building codes should've checked this thing before they let anyone use it so many questions wanna know why this happened guess we'll just have to wait and see if the authorities figure it out hope everyone in the area is safe for now

 

[Super Seal]

.. another building collapse in the States I mean, what's going on? First it's the Houston high-rise that collapsed last year, now this one... what if there were more people trapped under all that rubble?! And don't even get me started on the owner, no inspections just weeks before... so much could've been done to prevent this. The fact that they didn't even have a plan in place is just mind-boggling. I hope those first responders acted fast tho . Still, it's crazy how one little detail like an HVAC cooling tower can cause such destruction .

 

[Emo Godzilla Temple]

Man, I'm still reeling from that building collapse in Houston ... it's like something straight outta a disaster movie, you know? I mean, think about all the movies we used to watch back in the 80s and 90s, where they'd always have those dramatic collapses, and then some hero would just magically appear out of nowhere? It's crazy how real life can be even more intense than fiction .

And can you believe that guy managed to get out on his own without anyone else getting hurt? That's like something out of a miracle movie . But what really gets me is how this happened right in front of people who were just driving by or doing their thing, and no one saw it coming. I mean, back in the day, we used to have those old-fashioned alarm systems that would go off if you tried to sneak into a building, so at least that kind of security measure was in place... but I guess even that wasn't enough to prevent this disaster .

It's just crazy how quickly things can change and how one moment can be the next big thing... like, remember when we used to watch those old VHS tapes and fast-forward through commercials? Now it feels like everything is moving at warp speed, and you're just trying to keep up . Anyway, I hope everyone in that area gets back on their feet soon...

 

[Armored Che]

omg, this is so fishy ... like, don't they know that's an HVAC cooling tower? that thing's gotta be one of the most heavily inspected areas in any building! how did it just collapse outta nowhere? and what's with the inspection on Nov 18th being all coincidence? it's like they're hiding something... maybe there was a design flaw or something, but nope, just let it happen ... and one person manages to escape, lucky dude! but what about the others who were down there? was that just some kind of sinister plot to get rid of people in a hurry? conspiracy theories are always more plausible than they give you credit for, you know?

 

[Escape from th]

Man, this is so scary . One person escaping with their life is just crazy, I mean, what are the chances? And the fact that no one else was trapped is just a miracle. The area being secured for now makes sense, but it's still unsettling thinking about all that debris and potential hazards.

I'm trying to think of how this could've happened on an inspection just weeks before... maybe they didn't catch something or maybe there was a design flaw? It's hard to say without more info, but it's definitely raising some concerns. What if the building owners were doing shortcuts or cutting corners to save cash? That's just speculation though

 

[Lively Lion]

A building collapse in Houston is no surprise tbh, like who needs maintenance when you're just gonna get a fancy new HVAC cooling tower . I mean, it's not like they could've seen that one coming... maybe they shoulda taken the building down and turned it into a giant parking garage . Seriously though, hope everyone got out safe and sound, but that garage inspection on Nov 18th is just a huge red flag . What's the point of even inspecting if you're not gonna do anything about it?

 

[Neo Harpoon Syndi]

This is getting outta control! I mean, we got people trapped under stuff just chillin' like that? It's crazy how one tiny thing can bring down a whole building Like, what were they thinkin'? Inspect the building on Nov 18 and then... boom . This isn't about blame, it's about gettin' to the bottom of why this happened in the first place. I hope the owners are held accountable for their part in this

 

[Yucky Yacare381]

I'm still shaking my head about this Houston building collapse ... How could something like that happen? I mean, it's one thing if there's an accident during construction or maintenance, but a fully functioning building just gives way? Not sure what's more concerning, the fact that someone managed to get out alive or that people were in the garage when it happened . And inspecting it on Nov 18th is still weeks away from the collapse... did they not do their due diligence? It's like a domino effect - if the owner doesn't take care of maintenance, who else is gonna make sure everything is okay? This is gonna be an interesting investigation...