David Fleshler and Arlene Borenstein-Zuluaga, South Florida Sun Sentinel : yahoo – excerpt
No more survivors found as Florida condo search continues and questions arise over warning in 2018 report
SURFSIDE, Fla. — An intensive search failed to turn up more survivors of the collapsed Surfside condo by early Saturday evening, as questions multiplied over a 2018 consultant’s report that warned of “major structural damage” at the base of the building…
David Fleshler and Arlene Borenstein-Zuluaga, South Florida Sun Sentinel
Sat, June 26, 2021, 3:19 PM·6 min read
SURFSIDE, Fla. — An intensive search failed to turn up more survivors of the collapsed Surfside condo by early Saturday evening, as questions multiplied over a 2018 consultant’s report that warned of “major structural damage” at the base of the building.
Working in heavy protective gear in 85-degree-heat, rescuers used cranes, sensors and search dogs to look for survivors. A fire deep inside the building hampered the work, creating a gray haze and filling the air with the smell of smoke.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Saturday the rescue work would go on, insisting there was still hope…(more)
“We are continuing our search and rescues because our first responders believe there’s still a possibility,” she said. “There are crevices, so there is air. They’re able to pick through. But right now obviously we’re trying to stabilize the situation because of the fire and the smoke.”
Rescue work is slowed down on Saturday by fires in the building at site of the 12-story oceanfront Champlain Towers South Condo, at 8777 Collins Ave., that partially collapsed about 2 a.m. on Thursday in Surfside.
Rescue work is slowed down on Saturday by fires in the building at site of the 12-story oceanfront Champlain Towers South Condo, at 8777 Collins Ave., that partially collapsed about 2 a.m. on Thursday in Surfside. (Mike Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
The number of missing remained 159, although officials have said some of the people unaccounted for may not have been in the building. The confirmed death toll remained four.
“You wake up in the morning hoping that more and more people have been pulled out,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference Saturday at the scene. “And that news hasn’t been what we had hoped.”
Although the focus remains on the rescue, at least two lawsuits have already been filed and questions have grown about how a concrete and steel highrise could suddenly go down.
A 2018 report to the condo association by Morabito Consultants said “failed waterproofing” below the pool deck and entrance drive at Champlain Towers South had led to significant deterioration of the concrete.
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