USA TODAY reporter Romina Ruiz-Goiriena was at the Surfside condominium collapse site just a couple hours after first light last Thursday. Much of the building had crashed to the earth during the night.
Fire trucks filled the streets, but it was eerily quiet.
Police tape was up, but no one stopped her.
She walked right up to the rubble – and went to work.
She quickly learned that families were being directed to a unification center up the street. She walked toward the center while interviewing a health aide headed there too. She was one of the first and remained one of the only reporters in the center all day.