Motorists reunited with cars crushed in deck collapse

Alma Davis walked out of the parking lot for victims of the collapsed Midtown garage Wednesday afternoon and laughed.

She didn’t find her crumpled Mercedes, but said she didn’t mind.

Enlarge this image

John Spink / jspink@ajc.com

Kate Kelsey walks away from her destroyed automobile Wednesday.

RELATED:

Visuals:
• Cars, concrete removed Wednesday
• Big picture of parking deck
• Parking deck collapses
• Cars destroyed
• Video
• Map of area

Stories
• Car removal may be complete Thursday • UGA inpsecting garages as search of parking deck continues
• Owners reunited with crushed cars
• Garage builder fined in walkway collapse

• How to find your car

“My car was in that hole,” Davis said as she pointed to what remains of the parking deck at Fifth and Spring streets. “Had I done what I planned, I would be in my car when it collapsed.”

The single mother said she left L.A. Fitness around 12:20 p.m. Monday and was walking back to the Centergy garage, where her Mercedes was parked on the second floor. However, she paused to talk to a stranger.

“I stopped to talk to a lady about God,” said Davis, who runs the non-profit AIM for Youth in Alpharetta “God is amazing. He made me stop.”

While Davis was talking to the woman, sections of four floors of the garage collapsed - including the spot where Davis was parked.

Davis, 35, was one of dozens of people who came to claim their vehicles Wednesday. Atlanta Fire spokesman Bobby Stewart said they are trying to get all of the cars removed from the damaged garage by 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Although she is temporarily inconvenienced by not having a car and having to file an insurance claim, Davis said she is not disappointed.

“I cherish every moment I’m alive,” she said.

Anyone with a car parked in the garage can log of to www.gatowedcars.com and enter their make, model and tag number.

Owners of cars not listed on the site should call 404-419-9600. Fifth Street Management, which operates the garage, will arrange for a valet to take your keys. A firefighter will then drive your car from the damaged garage to a lot at Eighth and Spring streets, where you can pick it up, Stewart said.

On Wednesday afternoon, crumpled cars covered in orange spray-paint lined the parking lot at Eighth and Spring streets. Firefighters painted an X on cars that had been searched, similar to the symbols seen on abandoned homes after Hurricane Katrina.

Shayla Hill, who commutes downtown from Smyrna, had not seen her 2004 Toyota Corolla, which was parked in the portion of the garage, until Wednesday morning. That’s when crews using a large crane plucked the Toyota from the rubble.

“I was walking down the street, it was hanging by the crane, and I looked and I was like, ‘that’s a silver car, I wonder if it’s mine,’” said Hill, who works for an advertising agency in the Centergy building. “They dropped it on the ground and I looked at the car and yeah, that’s my car.”

She said the sedan now “looks like a convertible. I guess I’ll be looking for a new car.”

Hill said it was “kind of a relief” to finally see the condition of her car.

“We’ve been in wonder of where it was and if it was involved, and it was kind of a relief to know that it was so we can move forward with the process, but it’s kind of sad,” she said.

Samantha Smith was still waiting late Wednesday morning to find out the condition of her 2002 Acura, also damaged by the collapse.

Smith, who works at the nearby RBC bank, said she was eating lunch Monday when co-workers told her about the collapse. She jumped up and ran to a window overlooking the garage.

“That’s when my heart sank and my hands started shaking and I realized that’s where I had parked,” Smith said. “I was in denial, hoping I had parked either a little closer to the building or further down, that I wasn’t right in the middle, but, yeah, we’re crushed, on the second floor.”

While Smith hasn’t yet seen her car, she has seen a picture of a co-worker’s car that she had parked next to on Monday.

“It’s that lovely new convertible black Acura that wasn’t a convertible when she purchased it, so I’m thinking mine is in a similar condition. I’m not very hopeful about the condition of the car.”

Smith said she has a year-old toddler, and “everything for her – her car seat, her jogging stroller, everything’s in the car.”

She said she was advised by her insurance agent to file a claim for those items under her homeowner’s insurance, which carries a $1,000 deductible.

“Who has a thousand bucks laying around right now?” Smith asked. “That’s a month’s worth of day care for my kid. We can’t handle that right now.”

Staff writer Mike Morris and staff photographer John Spink contributed to this article.