Massive Search and Rescue Effort After Partial Collapse of Florida Condo Building

[Brillig]

Forensic inspectors wonder whether something failed underneath the 40-year-old building. To support its weight, the tower's builders had to drive concrete pylons deep into the sandbar.

And the solution is.... SANDBAR. Building anything on a sandbar seems like a bad idea, especially a 12 story building where people live.

 

[Sevens My Charm]

I am betting it’s doesn’t meet recertifications requirements

 

[Craygor]

There's no bedrock to speak of, and the water table is only a few feet down. If the quake had been a 5, it might have dropped immediately.

This is why Mexico City is so dangerous to live in. Besides poor building designs, corrupt city officials, and lax quality controls, the city is built on a lake bed beside the Pacific "Ring of Fire" fault lines. If an explosion held hundreds of miles away can bring a building down so far away then anything taller than 2 stories in south Florida might need to be abandon.

 

[McDanel]

I lived in south Florida for 8 years, then I moved to the San Francisco bay area and studied geology. I visited a street in San Francisco that had been affected by the 1906 quake. It was crazy, all these buildings sitting at odd angles, and they literally had sunken into the ground as well. The 1st. floor carriage house/servants quarters had sunk so far that all you could see of the carriage doors was about 2-3 feet of the top.

 

[notchback]

One inspection done in the 1990's showed that it was settling at 2mm per year back then. Not a place to be.

 

[Babs]

Let the law suits begin...

 

[Turd Fergusen]

Death toll in Florida building collapse rises to 5 as one more body found​

A fifth body was pulled from the rubble of the partially collapsed condo in Surfside, Florida, Saturday — as officials hold out hope that survivors can still be rescued from the debris nearly three days after the disaster.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced the new death toll during an evening news briefing, adding that rescue crews had also found other unspecified human remains during their day’s search.

Authorities also identified the bodies of three of the victims using DNA testing, dropping the number of unaccounted for down to 156. Their identities are not being released to protect the privacy of their families, Levine Cava said.

Death toll in Florida building collapse rises to 5 as one more body found

Officials announced a fifth body was pulled from the rubble of the partially collapsed condo in Surfside, Florida Saturday — as the search and rescue mission goes on nearly three days after t…

nypost.com

Florida Jewish community hit hard by condo building collapse​

At least 35 of the 159 people still missing after the terrifying condo collapse in south Florida are thought to be Jewish, and Israel has sent crews from Tel Aviv to help the rescue effort.

Search-and-rescue teams from Israel arrived in Florida to search for survivors in the ruins of what is left of the 12-story building, WPLG reported Saturday. Mexico sent a team as well, Reuters reported.

Volunteers with Hatzalah, an emergency medical service organization for Jewish communities around the world, also came to the site to support local firefighters and rescue workers, according to reports.

Israel is also providing food, clothes, medication and other aid for the rescue effort, Israel’s Consul General Maor Elbaz-Starinsky told The Times of Israel Friday.

Elbaz-Starinsky said more than two dozen of the missing were Jewish and had links to Israel. It was not immediately clear if any were Israeli citizens. Some are believed to be Orthodox Jews from Russia, he said.

“To see the agony, the pain, the worry … we see also how hope slowly … diminishes,” Elbaz-Starinsky said about the time he was spending with relatives needing support.
An orthodox Jewish organization called Chesed Shel Emes, Hebrew for “kindness from truth,” was also on standby at the site to help with rescue efforts, the Sun-Sentinel reported

https://nypost.com/2021/06/26/signs-of-life-in-florida-condo-rubble-have-dissipated-rescuer/​

The group’s goal is to recover all parts of the body, from blood to human tissue, that must be buried according to Jewish religious law. They hope to begin searching once they get permission from the authorities.

Full Article:

Florida Jewish community hit hard by condo building collapse

Israel has joined in efforts to search and rescue survivors from the devastating condo collapse in south Florida, sending crews and supplies from Tel Aviv.

nypost.com

 

[everjaded]

And the solution is.... SANDBAR. Building anything on a sandbar seems like a bad idea, especially a 12 story building where people live.

That's like, so much of FL though. A commercial empire resting on sandbars and swampland. Much of the "soil" around here is clearly mostly sand and seashell bits that were dredged in to build up areas enough to build on top of them.

 

[McDanel]

And the solution is.... SANDBAR. Building anything on a sandbar seems like a bad idea, especially a 12 story building where people live.

East coast of Florida has barrier islands that are all sandbars, just like the Carolinas and Georgia. Palm Beach is a sandbar, as is Miami Beach. No consideration is given to the fact that millions of people are living on a temporary, ever changing geologic feature.

 

[Metalfan]

Everywhere you go in world there is some kind of disaster waiting to happen so it really doesn't matter where you go,try to point out somewhere that it is 100% safe.

 

[LFODBiker]

The shift-the-blame game will be starting soon enough.

Surfside Official Told Residents Their Building Was Safe, Despite Engineer's Warning
June 27, 20211:07 PM ET

Just one month after an engineering report warned of "major structural damage" that required immediate repair, a Surfside, Fla. official assured residents of Chaplain Towers South that their building was sound.

NPR has obtained minutes of a Nov. 2018 meeting that shows a Surfside town inspector met with residents of the building, and assured them the building was "in very good shape." NPR learned of the meeting from a resident who was in attendance and who in an interview with Weekend Edition recalled being told that the building was not in danger.

The inspector's comments directly conflicted with an engineering report from five weeks earlier, which warned that failed waterproofing in a concrete structural slab needed to be replaced "in the near future."

The cause of the building collapse remains unknown, but according to the report, the structural slab was deteriorating because it was flat instead of sloped. That meant the water didn't drain off the concrete's waterproofing quickly, but rather pooled there until it evaporated.

Failure to complete the "extremely expensive" repairs, the nine-page report from Morabito Consultants cautioned, would "cause the extent of the concrete deterioration to expand exponentially."

Story continues here

Surfside Official Told Residents Their Building Was Safe, Despite Engineer's Warning

An engineering report in Oct. 2018 warned of "major structural damage" in the Florida building that collapsed last week. The next month, a town inspector said the building was in "very good shape."

www.npr.org

 

[Sevens My Charm]

Someone is about to have murder charges and the city is about to be bankrupt..

 

[everjaded]

Everywhere you go in world there is some kind of disaster waiting to happen so it really doesn't matter where you go,try to point out somewhere that it is 100% safe.

Yep! I've had this argument with people who question why in the world I'd live in FL and risk hurricanes. I mean yeah, they suck but at least you have a good couple of days notice to either prepare or get the fuck out.

Always felt that was better by far than living in places with tornados or earthquakes that give you no notice at all.

 

[cubby]

Ooopsy! somebody was speaking with their wallet instead of their brain. I'm so sure it was all worth now wasn't it? What with all the money they saved by not doing the repairs. The stupidity is amazing.

 

[Satanica]

People are beyond livid about this shit. Where the fuck was the City of Miami code enforcement during this fiasco?

A day after the Champlain Towers South condominium collapsed, a condo was posted for sale in one of its sister towers. Realtor Siarhei Zavadski says the timing was a terrible coincidence and after receiving hate messages he took down the listing.

Zavadski said he got permission from the owner Tuesday to sell the condo located in Champlain Towers East, which is less than 400 feet away from where its sister tower collapsed.

The property was listed for sale on Friday, as per the listing agreement, but was quickly taken down hours later after Zavadski received vulgar messages from people who mistakenly thought the condo was in the South tower.
[....]
Zavadski said he won’t be relisting the condo anytime soon, which was originally the plan. Zavadski and the owner weren’t worried about the sale since it was in a different, newer tower, he said.

“I have no idea what to do next,” Zavadski said.

The three-bedroom, two-bath condo was listed on Zillow for $1,375,000. He said it took a couple of days for photos of the condo to be taken and uploaded to the site.

When he tried to clear up the confusion with screenshots showing it was in the East tower and not the South, some people apologized and others did not, he said.

“They see Champlain and they sent hate messages,” Zavadski said. “I understand it is a tragedy, but people misunderstand the situation.”

The current owner had bought the condo for $1,080,000 in October, according to Miami-Dade County’s property appraiser. Zavadski said the owner was moving to a new home and wanted to quickly sell the condo. (Before the East tower follows the South tower!)
[....]
Worries about the integrity of Champlain Towers North and East have mounted. By late Saturday afternoon, voluntary evacuations were under way at the other two towers. As of early Sunday, the official death toll has climbed to five, with 156 people still unaccounted for.

The North is the same age and similar design to the South tower. An consulting engineer report in 2018 flagged a number of issues with the South tower, including “major structural damage” around the pool deck from poor drainage as well as cracking in some garage columns. It may take months to determine what caused the building to collapse.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article252398053.html

 

[Turd Fergusen]

Four more ID’d in Florida collapse; death toll still 9​

Authorities have identified four more people killed in last week’s collapse of a condo building in Florida — with 152 still unaccounted for.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at an evening press briefing at the scene Sunday that the death toll remains at nine, and said 132 occupants of the building have now been accounted for but 152 remain unaccounted for.

Cava said officials are not releasing the names of the newly identified victims of the collapse and said it will be up to their families to do so.

“We’re working to notify those next of kin first, and it is up to them after to the public and the media,” she said of the newly identified victims.

Rescue teams from as far away as Israel continue to sift through the rubble, but hopes of finding survivors are nonetheless dwindling.

Full Article:

Four more ID’d in Florida collapse; death toll still 9

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said 132 occupants of the building have now been accounted for but 152 remain unaccounted for.

nypost.com

 

[Satanica]

A “very deep fire” hampered rescue efforts Saturday at the collapsed oceanfront condominium tower near Miami where authorities are racing to recover any survivors beneath a mountain of rubble, officials said.

Rescuers were using infrared technology, water and foam to battle the blaze, whose source was unclear. Smoke has been the biggest barrier, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said during a news conference.

“We’re facing very incredible difficulties with this fire. It’s a very deep fire. It’s extremely difficult to locate the source of the fire," she said.

Authorities also announced Saturday they are beginning an audit of buildings nearing their 40-year review – like the fallen Champlain Towers South – to make sure they’re safe.
[....]
While the report from the firm of Morabito Consultants did not warn of imminent danger from the damage – and it is unclear if any of the damage observed was responsible for the collapse – it did note the need for extensive and costly repairs to fix systemic issues with the building.

It said the waterproofing under the pool deck had failed and had been improperly laid flat instead of sloped, preventing water from draining off.

“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 report said.

The firm recommended that the damaged slabs be replaced in what would be a major repair.

The report also uncovered “abundant cracking and spalling” of concrete columns, beams and walls in the parking garage. Some of the damage was minor, while other columns had exposed and deteriorating rebar. It also noted that many of the building's previous attempts to fix the columns and other damage with epoxy were marred by poor workmanship and were failing.

Beneath the pool deck “where the slab had been epoxy-injected, new cracks were radiating from the originally repaired cracks”, the report said.

Gregg Schlesinger, a former construction project engineer who is now a lawyer handling construction defect cases, said another area of concern in the report is cracks that were discovered in the tower’s stucco facade. Schlesinger said that could indicate structural problems inside the exterior that could have been critical in the collapse.

“The building speaks to us. It is telling us we have a serious problem,” Schlesinger said in a phone interview Saturday, AP reported.

He added that there are frequently “telltale signs” on oceanfront buildings indicating problems structurally largely from saltwater and salty air intrusion.

“This is a wakeup call for folks on the beach. Investigate and repair. This should be done every five years,” Schlesinger added. “The scary portion is the other buildings. You think this is unique? No.”

Abi Aghayere, a Drexel University engineering researcher, said the extent of the damage shown in the engineering report was notable. In addition to possible problems under the pool, he said several areas above the entrance drive showing signs of deterioration were worrisome and should have been repaired immediately because access issues prevented a closer inspection.

“Were the supporting members deteriorated to the extent that a critical structural element or their connections failed leading to progressive collapse?” he wrote in an email to the AP after reviewing the report. “Were there other areas in the structure that were badly deteriorated and unnoticed?”

On Saturday, a crane could be seen removing pieces of rubble from a more than 30-foot pile of debris at the collapse site. Scores of rescuers used big machines, small buckets, drones, microphones and their own hands to pick through the mountain of debris that had been the 12-story Champlain Towers South.
[....]
While officials said no cause for the collapse early Thursday has been determined, DeSantis said a “definitive answer” was needed in a timely manner. Video showed the center of the building appearing to tumble down first, followed by a section nearer to the beach.

The 2018 report was part of preliminary work by the engineering company conducting the building’s required inspections for a recertification due this year of the building’s structural integrity at 40 years. The condominium tower was built in 1981.

'Deep fire' hampers rescue effort at collapsed Miami apartment block

A “very deep fire” hampered rescue efforts Saturday at the collapsed oceanfront condominium tower near Miami where authorities are racing to recover any survivors beneath a mountain of rubble, officials…

www.france24.com

 

[Turd Fergusen]

Grandson of couple missing in Florida building collapse getting calls from their landline​

A man whose grandparents are unaccounted for following the Florida building collapse says he has been getting bombarded with eerie and mysterious calls from the landline inside their sunken condo, according to a report.

Jake Samuelson told local outlet WBLG that he has received at least 16 calls from the number of his missing grandparents, Arnie and Myriam Notkin.

When he answered the phone, he heard nothing but static each time, the report said.

“We are trying to rationalize what is happening here, we are trying to get answers,” Samuelson told the TV station.

He said the first call came on Thursday night, hours after the early-morning disaster that has left at least five people dead and dozens unaccounted for.

His grandparents, both in their 80s, live in apartment 302 in Champlain Towers South, and their landline phone usually sits right next to their bed, according to the report.

On Friday, Samuelson said, his family received 15 more unexplained calls from the number, the station reported.

The family is waiting to hear from detectives about the bizarre and gut-wrenching calls, Samuelson added.

Full Article:

Grandson of couple missing in Florida building collapse getting calls from their landline

Jake Samuelson told local news that he’s received over a dozen calls from the landline phone of his grandparents, who are unaccounted for following the Champlain Towers South collapse, and on…

nypost.com

 

[Sevens My Charm]

Good night if they’re trapped and calling for help.. fuck that would break any heart!!

 

[Turd Fergusen]

Emergency workers recovered an 11th body from the rubble of the collapsed Florida condo as the search for survivors continued late Monday, authorities said.

There were still 150 people unaccounted for as the fifth day of searching was coming to an end, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at a news briefing.

“We have people waiting, waiting and waiting for news – that is excruciating,” Cava said.

Death toll rises to 11 in Florida condo collapse as search for survivors continues

Emergency workers recovered an 11th body from the rubble of the collapsed Florida condo as the search for survivors continued late Monday, authorities said.

nypost.com

 

[Brillig]

Not to be cruel but it seems exceptionally unlikely that anyone could still be alive under the rubble.

 

[shep1904]

those phone calls tho...hella creepy

 

[Alf]

those phone calls tho...hella creepy

My phone dialed 911 once, all by itself.

It was spring, and the snow and ice were melting. Water everywhere, including in the multi-pair cable that served the apartment complex. Phone cables that get wet get noisy, and the pattern of pulses or the ghost tones tripped the phone switch and summoned the police for me.

My best guess is that's what happened here but, of course, I could be wrong.

--Al

 

[shep1904]

My phone dialed 911 once, all by itself.

It was spring, and the snow and ice were melting. Water everywhere, including in the multi-pair cable that served the apartment complex. Phone cables that get wet get noisy, and the pattern of pulses or the ghost tones tripped the phone switch and summoned the police for me.

My best guess is that's what happened here but, of course, I could be wrong.

--Al

wow really?! that's super interesting and I never would have thought that was how it might have happened. thanks Al

 

[McDanel]

I don't think anyone missing survived more than a couple of minutes. You can distinguish the upper 6 floors in that pile of debris, but then it's dust and gravel below. I feel profound sympathy for the folks who will be tasked with recovering those remains. They'll never get those sights out of their minds.

 

[Brillig]

Speaking of weird calls, back in college, I answered the phone and there was weird static/mechanical noise on the other end. After saying hello a few times I hung up. Went to make a call a couple hours later... it was still there. I could not disconnect it from my end. I fancied that it sounded rather alien and menacing, but I was young, so who knows. When I went to bed it was still there (blocking me from using the phone), but by the next morning, it was gone. Didn't happen to any of my apartment neighbors. Never did find out what it was.

 

[Turd Fergusen]

Elderly couple who died in Florida condo collapse found in bed together, son​

A long-married, elderly couple who died in the Florida condo disaster were found by each other’s side in the mangled wreckage of the collapse — still together in bed, their family said.

Antonio Lozano, 82, and his wife, Gladys, 80, who had been married for 58 years, were pulled from the rubble by rescuers following the collapse last week of the Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside, CBS Miami reported.

“I was told they were in bed together. That’s the end of the romantic story,” their son, Sergio Lozano, told the outlet.

Sergio said his parents, who met when they were 12 years old in Cuba, often joked about who would die first, because neither wanted to live without the other.

“My dad would say to my mom, ‘If you die, I don’t even know how to fry an egg, I’m gonna die.’ My mom would say, if my dad would die, ‘I don’t know how to pay the bills,'” Sergio said. “I always told my mom, ‘Don’t worry, I will do it.’ But they died together.”

Full Article:

Elderly couple who died in Florida condo collapse found in bed together, son says

Antonio Lozano, 82, and his wife, Gladys, 80, were pulled from the rubble by rescuers following the collapse last week of the Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside, CBS Miami reported.

nypost.com

[automerge]1624990112[/automerge]

Family of couple missing in Florida condo collapse still getting calls​

The family of the Florida grandparents missing in the aftermath of the Surfside building collapse told The Post Tuesday they are still getting mysterious phone calls from the couple’s landline — at least 20 since the catastrophe.

Dianne Ohayon said the family’s latest sliver of hope came early Monday, when her younger sister received a call from their parents, Myriam and Arnie Notkin.

“They’re coming in every day,” Ohayon, 56, said of the eerie calls.

“The last one I have knowledge about was Monday morning, a call came in at about 5:30 a.m. It was static. It’s the same thing every time.”

“There’s nobody on the line and it’s just static,” recalled Ohayon, who said she picked up one such call late Sunday. “And we wait and we just hang up because nothing changes.”

Ohayon said a caller ID unit on her 48-year-old sister’s phone indicates that the calls are coming from her parents’ line inside their apartment 302 in Champlain Towers South, where the phone was next to their bed.

“My nephew went on camera to try and find answers, raise awareness and maybe find out if other family members in the building were also receiving calls,” Ohayon said. “We were just not understanding what these phone calls were meaning. Maybe they were calling for help. We don’t know what they mean.”

At least 20 calls in total have been made from the couple’s landline since the building collapsed, according to Ohayon, who said she personally answered one.

Calls to the number Saturday were met with a busy signal, WPLG reported.

Full Article:

Family of couple missing in Florida condo collapse still getting calls

Dianne Ohayon said the family’s latest sliver of hope came early Monday, when her younger sister received a call from their parents, Myriam and Arnie Notkin.

nypost.com

 

[Turd Fergusen]

Death toll from Florida building collapse rises to 18 after bodies of two kids recovered​

The death toll from the collapse of a Florida condominium tower has risen to 18 after the bodies of two children were pulled from the rubble on Wednesday.

“It is also with great sorrow, real pain, that I have to share with you that two of these were children, aged 4 and 10,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at a briefing.

“So any loss of life, especially given the unexpected, unprecedented nature of this event, is a tragedy,” Cava said. “But the loss of our children is too great to bear.”

Seven days after the waterfront tower collapsed, there are still 145 people unaccounted for, the mayor said.

Full Article:

Death toll from Florida building collapse rises to 18 after bodies of two kids recovered

The death toll from the collapse of a Florida condominium tower has risen to 18 after the bodies of two children were pulled from the rubble on Wednesday.

nypost.com

 

[Turd Fergusen]

Rescuers spoke to woman trapped in Florida condo rubble but couldn’t save her​

A Florida fire chief on Thursday said that emergency workers heard the voice of a woman trapped in the rubble in the hours after last week’s horrific condo collapse – but they were unable to reach her.

Miami-Dade County Chief Alan Cominsky said during a press conference that rescuers heard “audible sounds” from a woman during their initial search underneath the crumbled remains of the 12-story Champlain Towers South condo in Surfside.

“Unfortunately, during our initial search-and-rescue efforts while we were working underneath the structure, the same structure that’s significantly compromised right now, we did hear audible sounds,” he said.

“And they were searching for a female voice, is what we heard, for several hours and eventually, we didn’t hear her voice anymore, and we continued searching,” Cominsky continued.

“And again that’s emphasizing the magnitude of what we’re going through. The effort that all our fire rescue personnel, anyone that’s here on scene, trying to do the best we can in these heroic efforts. And, unfortunately, we didn’t have success in that,” he added.

Rescuers spoke to woman trapped in Florida condo rubble but couldn’t save her

Rescuers who rushed to the scene of the Florida condo collapse heard banging on a wall and then a woman pleading to be rescued – but despite their efforts, she never made it out of the death trap.…

nypost.com

 

[Satanica]

(CNN)Search and rescue work at the site of the collapsed condo building in Surfside, Florida, has been temporarily halted because of structural concerns about the standing structure, the Miami-Dade County mayor said.

"We are doing everything we can and will resume search and rescue as soon as we can," Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Thursday morning. Families of the victims have been informed about the development, she said at a news briefing.
[....]
Miami-Dade Fire Chief Alan Cominsky said he had "no time frame" for when the search will resume.

"Definitely we want to continue to focus on search and rescue, so we'll have a meeting with the structural engineers and develop different plans, so we can evaluate and see what's best," the chief said at the news conference.

"Several" structural engineers on site had concerns about the building's stability, Cominsky said.

"Concern assessments included six to 12 inches of movement, and a large column hanging from the structure that could fall and cause damage to the support columns in the subterranean garage area," he said.

Movement in concrete slabs "could cause additional failure of the building," Cominsky said.
[....]
The search, in the dangerous and unstable rubble, is challenging, Cominsky told reporters Wednesday, but officials are bringing in more resources to ensure that the work gets done and responders can get rest.

Seventy members of Pennsylvania-Task Force 1 were leaving to assist with search and rescue efforts, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said in a tweet Wednesday. The team will be joined by task forces from New Jersey, Ohio and Indiana.

A new obstacle looms as Tropical Storm Elsa is forming in the Atlantic, with Surfside in its extended forecast cone. The storm will move through the Caribbean before turning toward Florida, DeSantis said.

"We are not expecting any impacts through Saturday," DeSantis said at the news briefing.
[....]

Officials shaping plans to demolish still standing structure at Surfside collapse site, mayor says

Search and rescue teams have resumed their work in the rubble of the sections of the Champlain Towers South that collapsed a week ago, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said Thursday evening.

edition.cnn.com