Officials in Florida are searching for the cause of a residential building collapse that has killed 97 people so far, seen 24 missing, and destroyed 136 apartments in total.
Here is what we know so far about the tragedy:
What happened?
At around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 24, Champlain Towers South, a 40-year-old, 12-story beachfront residential complex in the Miami suburb of Surfside, partially collapsed, leaving the easternmost section of the building completely destroyed.
The structural integrity first appeared compromised toward the middle of the building, and after that section went down, the eastern section closest to the beach fell as well, video showed. The portion of the building closest to the road was standing until it was demolished on July 4.
First responders scrambled to pull survivors out of the rubble, rescuing 35 on Thursday, officials said in a press conference.
The city demolished the uncollapsed portion of Champlain Towers South on July 4 for the safety of the search-and-rescue workers at the site. The city cleared any remaining pets from the structure before the demolition, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at a press conference.
With the demolition, all 136 of the building’s condominiums were destroyed.
BIDEN WANTS FEDERAL INVESTIGATION INTO SURFSIDE CONDO COLLAPSE BUT ISN’T PLANNING TO VISIT AREA SOON
This is video of the moment the Surfside, Florida residential building partially collapsed this morning. pic.twitter.com/KnsHM1lnmD
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) June 24, 2021
How many are dead and/or missing?
As of July 12, 97 people have died in the collapse, and 24 remain unaccounted for, according to Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. The last living victim to be pulled from the rubble was rescued on Thursday, June 24, the day of the collapse.
Since the collapse, the death toll has risen nearly every day as victims continue to be pulled from the rubble. 90 of the victims have been identified.
Police identified additional victims as Gary Cohen, 58; Gloria Machado, 71; Harold Rosenberg, 52; Ruslan Manashirov, 36; Andrea Catarossi, 56; Juan Alberto Mora Jr., 32; Juan Alberto Mora, 80; Deborah Berezdivin, 21; Bhavna Patel, 36; Vishai Patel, 36; Luis Pettengil, 36; Sophia Lopez Moreira, 36; Luis Lopez Moreira III, 3; Maria Teresa Rovirosa, 58; Leidy Vanessa Luna Villalba, 23; Ilan Naibryf, 21; Angela Velasquez, 60; Benny Weisz, 31; Marina Restrepo Azen, 76; Elena Blasser, 64; Elena Chavez, 87; Ana Mora, 70; Oresma Gil Guerra, 60; Richard Rovirosa, 60; Miguel Pazos, 55; Nicole Langesfeld, 26; Ana Sophia Pettengill Lopez Moreira, 9; Edgar Gonzalez, 42; Luis Sadovnic, 28; Richard Augustine, 77; Maria Torre, 76; Alfredo Leone, 48; Lorenzo De Oliveira Leone, 5; Julio Cesar Velasquez, 66; Maria Gabriela Camou Font, 64; Beatriz Rodriguez Guerra, 52; Nicole Dawn Doran, 43; Catalina Gomez Ramirez, 45; Fabian Nunez, 57; Cassie Billedeau Stratton, 40; Margarita Vazquez-Bello, 68; Judith Spiegel, 65; Arnold Notkin, 87; and Lisa Rosenberg, 27; Andres Levine, 26; Moises Rodan Brief, 28; Aishani Gia Patel, 1; Mercedes Fuentes Urgelles, 61; Raymond Urgelles, 61; Luis F. Barth Tobar, 51; Maria Notkin, 81; Valeria Barth, 14; Michelle Anna Pazos, 23; and Mihai Radulescu, 82.
Previous victims have been identified as Stacie Dawn Fang, 54; Antonio Lozano, 83; Gladys Lozano, 79; Manuel LaFont, 54; Leon Oliwkowicz, 80; Luis Bermudez, 26; Anna Ortiz, 46; Christina Beatriz Elvira, 76; Marcus Joseph Guara, 52; Frank Kleiman, 55; Michael David Altman, 50; Hilda Noriega, 92; Lucia Guara, 10, Emma Guara, 4, Anaely Rodriguez, 42, Andreas Giannitsopoulos, 21; Magaly Elena Delgado, 80; Bonnie Epstein, 56; Claudio Bonnefoy, 85; Maria Obias-Bonnefoy, 69; Graciela Cattarossi, 48; Gonzalo Torre, 81; David Epstein, 58; Ingrid Ainsworth, 66; Tszvi Ainsworth, 68; Nancy Kress Levin, 76; Jay Kleiman, 52; Francis Fernandez, 67; Graciela Cattarossi, 86; Gino Cattarossi, 89; Simon Segal, 80; and Elaine Lia Sabino, 71 and three more victims, whose families requested remain anonymous.
Officials transitioned from search-and-rescue efforts to search-and-recovery efforts on July 7, leading responders to look for victims without the expectation of finding survivors.
What was the cause?
The investigation into the collapse is ongoing, and there is no confirmed cause as of Monday. However, reports from 2018 and later resurfaced over the weekend and early in the week, feeding speculation about how the collapse could have been prevented.
Rosendo Prieto, the chief building official for the complex, who left his role last year, allegedly received a report from a consultant who found serious issues with the building’s waterproofing on Nov. 13, 2018. Shortly after receiving the report, Prieto reportedly assured the condo’s board the building was “in very good shape,” according to meeting minutes obtained by the Miami Herald.
“The waterproofing below the Pool Deck & Entrance Drive as well as all of the planter waterproofing is beyond [its] useful life and therefore must all be completely removed and replaced,” the report said, which was completed a month before the Nov. 13 meeting. “The failed waterproofing is causing major structural damage to the concrete structural slab below these areas. Failure to replace the waterproofing in the near future will cause the extent of the concrete deterioration to expand exponentially.”
The building never received the necessary repairs that cost approximately $9 million in total, with $3.8 million needed for the structural repairs near the pool. The collapsed portion of the building is closest to the pool.
A letter dated April 9, 2021, just under three months before the collapse, surfaced Monday night, detailing more damage to the building’s supports, which raised repair costs to $15 million.
“The concrete deterioration is accelerating. The roof situation got much worse, so extensive roof repairs had to be incorporated, Jean Wodnicki, president of the Board of Directors for Champlain Towers South, wrote to residents of the condominium.
“When you can visually see the concrete spalling (cracking),” Wodnicki continued, “that means that the rebar holding it together is rusting and deteriorating beneath the surface.”
A pool contractor also found serious damage to the supports underneath the pool deck, according to photos he took 36 hours before the collapse, which resurfaced Monday afternoon. The photos detail the cracking of the concrete undercarriages of the building and puddles of standing water around them, according to a report by the Miami Herald.
Other structural engineers and experts have said the building may have been suffering from “concrete spalling,” a form of structural degradation that happens when salt water seeps into porous concrete and causes steel rebar rods to rust and expand, causing concrete support beams to weaken.
Are other buildings at risk?
The town of Surfside has recommended residents evacuate a nearby building, Champlain Tower North, to inspect it for structural flaws on Saturday, two days after the original collapse. That building was erected in the same year (1981) and by the same company as the partially collapsed one.
Evacuations are not mandatory, but many residents of Champlain Tower North and other nearby buildings have left voluntarily. Evacuees can choose to take relief assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help them relocate.
Officials from Miami-Dade County will conduct a review of all buildings 40 years old and older to ensure they have undergone necessary upkeep, Cava said on June 26.
Hurricane Elsa passed through the Miami-Dade area on July 6 and 7, causing “minimal impact” and without heavily affecting search efforts, Gov. Ron DeSantis said on July 8.
What can I do to help?
Florida has set up two funds run by local charitable organizations to help the victims: Support Surfside and the Surfside Building Collapse Victim Fund. The local public radio station WLRN compiled a list of specific “ways to help.”
“The community that’s going through the horror are the families that are waiting up there at our community center and at the Grand Beach Hotel for news,” said Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett.
Rescue teams have set up an emergency hotline (305-993-1071) and family reunification service (305-614-1819).
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Federal, state, and local authorities have teamed up to help the victims. On July 2, Gov. Ron DeSantis thanked President Joe Biden’s administration for “stepping up to the plate” to help the state. Biden visited Surfside Thursday, noting that “when it’s really important … we come together.”
“This is life and death,” he said.
