Dallas

Woman Loses Car and Home to Crane Collapse, 2 Years After Her Mother Faced Similar Situation

Hundreds of displaced apartment residents were still picking up the pieces Thursday after Sunday's deadly crane collapse near downtown Dallas.

The accident claimed the life of 29-year-old Kiersten Smith and injured five others.

One young woman managed to run to safety.

She's staying with her mother who can relate all too well to sudden loss.

"It's still kind of all over the place," Amanda Stoll said.

She said ran from her first floor apartment at Elan City Lights when a construction crane came crashing down onto her building on Sunday afternoon.

In the days since the deadly accident, Stoll has been looking for a new home and a rental car.

For now, she's staying with her mother who recently relocated to Dallas.

"When you go by, it still makes me cry," Ann Kozarsky said.

She knows all too well what it's like to be forced to start over again.

"It's been quite the couple of years," Stoll said.

"It is kind of unimaginable that I've gone through the same or something similar in another city," Kozarsky said.

Houston to be exact.

The home Kozarsky lived in for 20 years was in Hurricane Harvey's path.

"Water was at the knee," Stoll said. "She just lost her house and her car and I just lost my house and my car, so it's kind of like one thing after another. But I'm still here. I'm safe and I feel terrible for the woman that lost her life and people that were injured."

Kozarsky said she remembered what her father once said and hoped her daughter and everyone who lost their belongings at Elan City Lights would remember it too.

"Materialistic [things] can always be replaced," she said. "Things that have to do with memories, I guess, the memories are inside are what are important."

The crane involved in the accident could be removed as early as this weekend or early next week, according to Dallas Fire Rescue.

Professional movers will soon be packing up more than 500 residents' belongings and placing them in a storage facility, according to Greystar Management.

Residents will not be able to have their belongings picked up until July, according to a message sent by management.

Plans are also in the works to somehow remove vehicles from the damaged parking garage located inside the complex, beginning with those parked on the top levels.

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