Search-and-rescue efforts stretched through a sixth day on Tuesday at the site of a collapsed Miami condominium complex in Florida, where at least a dozen people died and 149 more remained missing amid fading hopes of finding anyone else alive.
Remains of the 12th casualty in the disaster, which could rank as the deadliest accidental structural failure in U.S. history, were recovered on Tuesday, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at an afternoon news conference.
It would be recalled that the building in Surfside, Florida, partially collapsed around 1.30am on Thursday.
The oceanfront building was also due to have its safety recertified for the first time in 40 years this year which included the need for ‘extensive repairs for rusted steel and damaged concrete‘ on parts of the structure.
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Investigators have not yet determined what caused a major section of the 40-year-old Champlain Towers South condo to give way abruptly early on Thursday as residents slept.
Initial attention has focused on the structural deficiencies described in a 2018 engineering report.
In April 2021, the condo association president warned residents that the concrete damage identified in the report had “gotten significantly worse” and urged them to pay about $15 million in assessments needed to make the repairs, according to reports. of the media.
Florida Emergency Management Director, Kevin Guthrie said local authorities had asked the federal government Tuesday to send additional urban search and rescue teams to the site in the waterfront city of Surfside, adjacent to Miami Beach.
Authorities said they were hopeful survivors could still be located in the pile of pulverized concrete and twisted metal left behind when nearly half of the 12-story, 136-unit tower collapsed on itself. The search operation has been hampered by intermittent showers and thunderstorms.
“The rescue effort continues unabated except for the brief electrical storm we had today,” said Surfside Mayor, Charles Burkett.
No one has been rescued alive from the rubble since hours after one side of the skyscraper collapsed into a heap, and the prospects for another rescue dimmed by the hour.
Firefighters have spoken of detecting faint sounds from within the rubble pile and finding gaps deep enough in the rubble large enough to possibly support life.
Meanwhile, Miami-Dade Fire Chief, Alan Cominsky said search and rescue personnel faced a daunting task while working 12-hour shifts in the heat and humidity.
He expressed;
That building collapsed almost on a footprint of where that building was; we’re talking 12 stories, with underground garages all within the same footprint. I’m sure to emphasize the magnitude of what we find, what we are seeing.
On Monday night, Levine Cava used grim terms to describe the anguish faced by the families of the missing.
The Mayor said;
They are dealing with the news that their loved ones may not make it out alive and they still hope they will. Your loved ones can come out as body parts.
Rescue workers have moved 3 million pounds of concrete piece by piece from the rubble, Cominsky said. The teams include experts sent by Israel and Mexico to assist in the search.
President, Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, will visit Surfside on Thursday, the White House said.
A makeshift monument erected a block from the site contained bouquets of fresh hydrangeas tucked into a chain-link fence.
A card with hearts had a message for lifeguards: “Thank you for looking for my grandmother.”
The tragedy has caused agencies in the surrounding areas to rush to check the security of buildings.
Levine Cava said she has directed Miami-Dade County officials to begin a 30-day audit of all residential properties five stories or more that are 40 years old or older. The cities of Miami and Miami Beach have announced similar measures.
On her part, Miami-Dade County State Attorney, Katherine Fernandez Rundle said she would convene a special grand jury, in addition to any possible criminal investigation, to examine the safety of the buildings and “what steps we can take to protect our residents” from disasters. similar in the future.
The 2018 engineer report warned of “significant structural damage” to the concrete slab below the pool deck and deterioration, including exposed rebar, in the underground parking lot.
The author of the report, Frank Morabito, wrote that the deterioration “would expand exponentially” if it is not repaired.
“Everything is starting to fall into place now, because like I’ve said all along, there was something very, very wrong with this building,” Burkett told CNN when asked about the April warning by the president of the condo association. “Buildings in America just don’t fall down like this.”
A lawyer who works with the condo association, Donna DiMaggio Berger, previously said that the problems described in the 2018 report were typical of older buildings in the area.
Ross Prieto, then Surfside’s top construction official, met with residents weeks after the report was produced and assured them that the building was “in very good condition,” according to meeting minutes released Monday.
