FL- 12 Story Condo Partial Building Collapse, many still unaccounted for, Miami, 24 June 2021

[LadyL]

The firefighters in that garage scared me every time I saw the video of them. I was afraid the garage would collapse even more. Terribly sad they couldn't reach her.

those poor people ... the victims and the rescuers

 

[Chelly]

2 Children Among Dead as Death Toll Increases to 18 at Surfside Condo Collapse

• The bodies of six additional victims have been found in the rubble of a collapsed condo tower, raising the death toll to 18 people in Surfside
• Another 145 people remain unaccounted for as the search for survivors reached a 7th day
• Charles Cyrille of the Miami-Dade County Office of Emergency said 900 workers from 50 federal, state and local agencies were working seamlessly on the search

 

[anneg]

if we want to search for this viral video ourselves, where do we go? Instagram? Twitter?

It's on the media thread--scroll down.
FL - Champlain Towers South Building Collapse, Miami, 24 June 2021 Media Thread **NO DISCUSSION**

 

[margarita25]

2 Children Among Dead as Death Toll Increases to 18 at Surfside Condo Collapse

• The bodies of six additional victims have been found in the rubble of a collapsed condo tower, raising the death toll to 18 people in Surfside
• Another 145 people remain unaccounted for as the search for survivors reached a 7th day
• Charles Cyrille of the Miami-Dade County Office of Emergency said 900 workers from 50 federal, state and local agencies were working seamlessly on the search

 

[BrownRice]

The firefighters in that garage scared me every time I saw the video of them. I was afraid the garage would collapse even more. Terribly sad they couldn't reach her.

Omg. So sad for her and those poor rescuers.

 

[KALI]

These stories remind me so much like the stories from survivors from 9-11.

The video of the garage entry was apparently taken at 1:18am. Here's an older article (June 24) with another resident who had a lucky escape:

A stroke of dumb luck might well have saved Eric Zion’s life. He lives in the Champlain Towers South building and he said he got back from a trip at about 10:30pm Wednesday night and, for some reason, the lights were shut off in his apartment. He doesn't know why his power was out but it pushed him to make a decision that he and his wife were going to rent a hotel room in the neighborhood just for the night. They planned to figure out the power situation in the morning.

“We drove out at like maybe 11:30ish, went to the hotel, took everything out, and then at approximately 12:30am, I came back to return my car to the parking lot. Then I went upstairs to get my scooter and I was probably in the apartment for 20, 30 minutes so I probably left like 12:50, close to 1:00,” Zion said.

“...I was literally just there when I put my car in, the whole garage collapsed. So my car is totaled. But like, you know, it could have been me.”

'I Felt The Entire Room Shake.' Partial Building Collapse In Surfside Leaves One Dead, Many Injured

So this guy drove into the garage around 12:30am and didn't notice anything? He also left the apartment just before the trouble started. At 1:18am the debris and the water leak were recorded on the video of the garage entrance. Also, is the power outage in his apartment earlier on (11:30) related to the collapse?

 

[BrownRice]

These stories remind me so much like the stories from survivors from 9-11.

Yes. And it makes me think how I’d react. Would I have known, would I have been able to get to my kids, did it hurt, etc. Such a horrible way to have your life ended.

 

[al66pine]

Who's Missing?
If the officials who named missing or "unaccounted for" have explained their methodology for identifying those persons as missing, I do not recall seeing it. Anyone?

 

[coffeeandacig]

This is a very good article... shows all the excruciating work that has to be done, and how difficult it is....
This painful but successful story, and the painful disastrous Surfside story --- should give all condo owners the education of a lifetime..

It's a real wake up call, sadly.

It's made me wonder in the cacophony of all the various parts that lead to this tragedy, was the Condo Association already behind the 8 ball, so to speak.
I'm looking for the breakdown percentage of full-time residents of CTS, seasonal residents, and portfolio/investment properties. Because, it may have been an additional impediment to taking the quick and necessary actions like Dolphin Towers took. Just speculation on my part, of course.

 

[Dontknow?]

Most of Surfside condo board quit in 2019 amid sluggish response to repair plans: WaPo

Board president Anette Goldstein was among those that resigned from the seven-member board, partly due to the slow response to major structural concerns that had been detailed in an engineer consultant’s report in 2018, the Post reported.

Most of Surfside condo board quit in 2019 amid sluggish response to repair plans: WaPo

 

[MoeInVA]

I am too mad to speak.
I lived in a high rise just like this.
I have been to the condo board meetings.
My building had a diverse, elderly, and significant disabled population too.
we had a major disruptive repair with special assessments to keep our concrete balconies from falling.
Rebar etc.
This makes me so mad.
Two bright lights- we need better than condo boards. We need better insurance and safety protections. Ugh.

 

[LadyL]

An 88-year-old survivor of the condo collapse in Surfside, Florida, was carried to safety by her neighbors - CNN

 

[IQuestion]

In my opinion, there were many fire hazards mentioned in the 40 Year Remediation Repair List that were severe enough to warrant an order to evacuate -- regardless of municipality.

These include:

• firewall missing above the exterior glass walls and doors below second floor exterior slabs
• circuit identification labels missing on several panels
• insufficient corridor illumination
• absence of fire alarms in both the garage and pool deck areas
• absence of smoke detectors in tenant storage rooms, meter rooms, and the first floor corridor
• blocked exit signs in corridors leading to stairwells
• rusted generator and day tank
• missing safety disconnects on A/C compressors in garage rooms
• improper fire penetration for meter from FPL vault to the main electrical room
• low voltage wiring attached to busway (insufficient wiring)
• rusted disconnect switch in generator room
• rusted wireway and damaged disconnect switches on roof
• fire pump base frame severely rusted (an added notation says this will affect the alignment of the pump shaft and result in bearing failure)
• rusted 6" sprinkler main by fire pump
• absence of backflow prevention
• storage areas completely rotted from water damage and complete replacement is required due to fire hazard

https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/miamiletter0628.pdf

BBM in red: You have me wondering lack of working fire alarms in the garage, pool area, meter room etc. If a fire broke out in the meter area or garage, how long do you suppose it would have to burn before activating alarms on higher floors? And, if a fire alarm is activated in one area of the building, does it activate every alarm on every floor as a precaution or early warning to residents of higher floors? Did CTS have a regularly practiced "fire/hazard" evacuation plan in place? If so, how often was it utilized? How long would it take for residents to evacuate if an "all floors alarm" was activated? Did /does front desk security have the ability to generate an emergency evacuation alarm system?
Anyone?

 

[Herat]

The tiny pieces of information from different observers aren't fitting together in this puzzle easily right now

The video from across the street showing the garage entrance with water streaming into the garage and concrete pieces fallen on the garage floor

The female occupant's call that tells her husband the pool deck is caving in

Pounding sounds and a heavy sound like a wall falling over.

The account of the 88 year old survior who evacuated with her neighbors into a flooding garage and over a collapsed wall onto the pool deck.

All preceed the collapse on video, but none appear to be directly underneath the segment that falls first.

The garage entrance is on the north-east side of the building, underneath the last segment of the building to fall. And not over the collapsing pool deck.

 

[rainynights]

Still too early to tell, but something to keep on eye on.

Tropical Depression 5 Forms, South Florida in Forecast Cone

The best-case scenario would be the storm missing South Florida far south or far east. If the storm approaches Key West, that would bring high impact weather to the Keys and disruptive, tropical bands of wind and rain to Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Surfside.

More should be known in the coming days as the forecast track becomes tighter and agreement is seen among models, but some type of disruptive weather is looking more likely, even if there is not a direct hit.

TROPICAL DEPRESSION FIVE

 

[KALI]

I really wish at this time, that all these reporters investigating WHAT went wrong with this building, the codes broken and Yada Yada, would focus on the PEOPLE who've died here in this building.
For me. That's what this story is about.
The missing, and at this point, probably dead.
The rebar, the water, the cracks the management will be ongoing for years.
To truly appreciate this tragedy...it is not about the building.
It is about the people. Who died. IN this building!

 

[dixiegirl1035]

I really wish at this time, that all these reporters investigating WHAT went wrong with this building, the codes broken and Yada Yada, would focus on the PEOPLE who've died here in this building.
For me. That's what this story is about.
The missing, and at this point, probably dead.
The rebar, the water, the cracks the management will be ongoing for years.
To truly appreciate this tragedy...it is not about the building.
It is about the people. Who died. IN this building!

This is what we know about the dead and unaccounted for in the Surfside condo collapse - CNN

Remembering the Dead and Missing in Surfside Condo Collapse

Surfside condo collapse: What we know about the victims and 150 missing people

 

[Lilibet]

I really wish at this time, that all these reporters investigating WHAT went wrong with this building, the codes broken and Yada Yada, would focus on the PEOPLE who've died here in this building.
For me. That's what this story is about.
The missing, and at this point, probably dead.
The rebar, the water, the cracks the management will be ongoing for years.
To truly appreciate this tragedy...it is not about the building.
It is about the people. Who died. IN this building!

Yes, this horrific event killed people and I have read several reported profiles of those who died and that should definitely continue. But I believe we need both stories. If the reporting about what went wrong causes people to look at what is going wrong in their own condo buildings it could save their lives. This is unlikely to be the only dangerous building in the area or even the country IMO.

 

[indicolite22]

The tiny pieces of information from different observers aren't fitting together in this puzzle easily right now

The video from across the street showing the garage entrance with water streaming into the garage and concrete pieces fallen on the garage floor

The female occupant's call that tells her husband the pool deck is caving in

Pounding sounds and a heavy sound like a wall falling over.

The account of the 88 year old survior who evacuated with her neighbors into a flooding garage and over a collapsed wall onto the pool deck.

All preceed the collapse on video, but none appear to be directly underneath the segment that falls first.

The garage entrance is on the north-east side of the building, underneath the last segment of the building to fall. And not over the collapsing pool deck.

BBM. It appears that by the time the garage video was taken (1:18am), the pool deck had already caved in. There was likely more debris beyond what is visible in the video.

 

[Iona]

I really wish at this time, that all these reporters investigating WHAT went wrong with this building, the codes broken and Yada Yada, would focus on the PEOPLE who've died here in this building.
For me. That's what this story is about.
The missing, and at this point, probably dead.
The rebar, the water, the cracks the management will be ongoing for years.
To truly appreciate this tragedy...it is not about the building.
It is about the people. Who died. IN this building!

YESS!!! All of this should have, could have, and the keyboard building inspectors, need to make another thread… This was a major disaster and a huge tragedy for over 100 families, my heart , thoughts, and reading time are with them, feeling their pain, understanding and being empathetic to their loss…