Crews are nearly done demolishing the historic church that collapsed in New London last week. The city said Thursday will likely be their last day on site.
Meantime, Connecticut College students who lived directly next to the church could safely return to their apartments.
"I was quite shocked, but mostly I was like 'what should I do now,?" Connecticut College senior Linh Nguyen said. "I just had my laptop and my phone without my charger or anything."
Nguyen was one of 56 students who had to evacuate the Manwaring Building when Engaging Heaven Church came crashing to the ground on Thursday.
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"It sounded like thunder at first. And when we kind of just opened the blinds to see what was going on, there was dust everywhere and rocks rolling toward the window," Connecticut College junior Nick Musi said.
Students like Musi and Nguyen were given rooms at the nearby Holiday Inn. The Red Cross also stepped in to provide essential items and clothing as crews demolished what was left the church.
"I think COVID has kind of trained me for this. You know, anything can happen, moving in, moving out is not a problem with me," Nguyen said.
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Linh couldn't live in her apartment for five days, but as of Tuesday morning, she and others were given the green light to return.
Dean of Students Victor Arcelus issued an email to the school, thanking the community for their support, saying in part:
"What this incident has shown us is how our campus and the broader New London community can quickly come together to provide and support and care when needed."
He went on to say the apartment complex is making a few repairs to windows and changing out HVAC filters due to dust particles from the church work site.
"It's tough, but at the same time, we're really counting our blessings because the fact that nobody was injured from a significant collapse like this is phenomenal," Mayor Michael Passero said.
Passero said many experts were on site to determine how the church collapsed, but that information is still not yet known. He said the site will remain in its current condition until there's a remediation plan.
