Miami area condo collapse

[NYCgrrl]

LMAO.

This is the DIS! We are all about speculation.

How many people have posted the same article about defects found in a 2018 engineers report, as if it's something recent?

And how many of them just posted without realizing that it had already been posted on this same thread multiple times -- AND without researching any further to discover that nobody with any expertise thinks those defects could have caused the collapse?

Sorry but I don’t know what you are speaking of. My quote was in direct response to a different question. Can you explain what this post means?

 

[JimMIA]

Sorry but I don’t know what you are speaking of. My quote was in direct response to a different question. Can you explain what this post means?

I was agreeing with you that there is no sense in guessing about these questions -- but just commenting on the fact that guessing is a big part of what we do here on the DIS.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I was agreeing with you that there is no sense in guessing about these questions -- but just commenting on the fact that guessing is a big part of what we do here on the DIS.

Oh, got you.

 

[Dan Murphy]

My son has been deployed, USAR team from North Florida, on the way to provide support and assistance.
keeping all in our thoughts and prayers.

Please thank him for us.

 

[JimMIA]

There have been several new disclosures and happenings this afternoon.

I've seen two new pieces of information come out:

• The team from Israel is actually two teams. One team is a large contingent of seasoned Urban Search & Rescue personnel who are working at the site with many others trying to rescue survivors. But the other component of the Israeli assistance is a team of experienced counselors who specialize in supporting the families and loved ones. That second team is located at the reunification center hotel and has been actively helping families since yesterday.
• One factoid that got glossed over in the briefings was fleshed out today by one of the state officials. He said rescue teams have dug a large tunnel underneath the wreckage -- partially as a fire block, and also as a means of moving rescuers and equipment. That tunnel is 40 feet under the rubble and is 125 feet long and 20 feet wide!

The big event this afternoon is that, for the first time, family members were bussed down to the site for a first-hand look.

They used two busses (because they have to thread their way through all the equipment in very limited space). They took the families to the Bluegreen timeshare immediately north of the wreckage, and they are allowing them all the time they need visit. On the way, of course, they are passing dozens of emergency vehicles and hundreds of emergency personnel committed to the rescue effort.

These bus trips started about 2 PM, and they just dropped off the third group of families. There has been no word on how many trips they will make, or how many families have gone.

 

[RedAngie]

He said rescue teams have dug a large tunnel underneath the wreckage -- partially as a fire block, and also as a means of moving rescuers and equipment. That tunnel is 40 feet under the rubble and is 125 feet long and 20 feet wide!

40 feet under the rubble on a barrier island?
Wouldn’t they encounter water since it would be below sea level?

 

[JimMIA]

40 feet under the rubble on a barrier island?
Wouldn’t they encounter water since it would be below sea level?

I didn't phrase that well. I think the tunnel is at ground level or just underground. The pile of rubble is 4-5 stories high.

 

[fla4fun]

This is just so sad for the victims and their families. I feel so bad for them. I haven’t given up hope that a survivor can still be found. I read an interview once with a woman who was rescued 17 days after a multistory building collapse, so I refuse to give up hope before that point. But it gets a little harder every day. The not knowing is so awful for the families. I hope they can get the answers they need sooner rather than later.

 

[JimMIA]

Authorities identified four of the known deceased people today, so the "unaccounted for" number is now 152.

One of the things that has been easily misunderstood was also cleared up today.

Authorities have been saying the US&R personnel have been working in teams of 10-12...which doesn't sound like a lot of people, and it's not. What they haven't said is that they have 6-10 of those teams working on and inside the rubble at any time -- so 75-100+ people actively working in the rubble at the same time. Some of them are below the ground, so it's a lot more people than you see in pictures.

AFIK, there are currently 5 US&R teams working, each consisting of +/- 80 rescuers. There are the original two local South Florida teams, one from North Florida, the Israeli team, and the Mexican team. And then, in addition to the actual US&R teams, there are numerous fire rescue units (3 medics each), fire trucks (3-5 firefighters each), I think at least one Air Rescue team (4-5 crew), and dozens and dozens of support personnel, crane operators, lighting techs, etc, etc. My guess is there are at least a thousand people actively working -- and that is per shift, and they are working around the clock.

So it's a huge effort.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Thanks for the local updates, Jim.

 

[JimMIA]

Thanks for the local updates, Jim.

Thanks to @bcla for starting the thread, and all of the others who have contributed. It's gonna be a long couple of weeks I'm afraid.

 

[izzy]

Thanks to @bcla for starting the thread, and all of the others who have contributed. It's gonna be a long couple of weeks I'm afraid.

Jim, thank you so much for the expert information that you are providing to us. I can only imagine how hard this is on the search and rescue personnel, even though I know it’s what they train for. And I can’t even comprehend the families’ anxiousness and grief.

Have you heard anything about what will happen to the rest of the building that is standing? I’d have to think that it will probably be torn down at some point in the future. I can’t imagine them letting anyone in there to retrieve personal items.

 

[JimMIA]

Have you heard anything about what will happen to the rest of the building that is standing? I’d have to think that it will probably be torn down at some point in the future. I can’t imagine them letting anyone in there to retrieve personal items.

I have no idea, and there has been no public discussion of that.

There must be some level of stability to the remaining section or they would not have hundreds of rescue personnel searching the rubble right next to the building. I'm sure that, to the degree they could do so safely, the firefighters "cleared" as much of the remaining building as they could to ensure that everyone was out.

I know firefighters rescued more than 30 people from the remaining portion of the building in the first minutes after the collapse. Another 100 or so evacuated the building on their own.

Like you, I can't imagine them letting anyone back into the building. At some point, the entire building will have to be imploded, but obviously they won't do that until they are convinced there is no hope of further rescue.

The collapse occurred at about 1:30 AM Thursday. Thursday morning they rescued a 15 year old boy and his mother from the rubble, but she later died at the hospital. Sometime Thursday they rescued a woman from the rubble by amputating her leg on-scene, but I do not know if that was the mother or a different woman. They rescued at least one additional man Thursday afternoon, but he died en route to the hospital.

So far, 8 names of deceased persons have been released and there is one unidentified deceased person that we know of. The official number of unaccounted for is still 152.

I believe the next briefing will be around 10:30 AM, so we'll see what that brings.

 

[JimMIA]

Not much additional info this morning. A tenth body was recovered this morning, so the official death toll is now 10 with 151 unaccounted for.

More than 130 people were able to get out safely in the minutes after the collapse -- some rescued from balconies by fire units, others escaping on their own.

Searchers have also recovered some "human remains," but I'm not quite sure what that means. I assume it means body parts, but not enough to identify the victim(s). If that's the case, they will have to use DNA to identify the remains -- a process that will take at least several days, provided they have relatives' DNA samples to compare.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Not much additional info this morning. A tenth body was recovered this morning, so the official death toll is now 10 with 151 unaccounted for.

More than 130 people were able to get out safely in the minutes after the collapse -- some rescued from balconies by fire units, others escaping on their own.

Searchers have also recovered some "human remains," but I'm not quite sure what that means. I assume it means body parts, but not enough to identify the victim(s). If that's the case, they will have to use DNA to identify the remains -- a process that will take at least several days, provided they have relatives' DNA samples to compare.

 

[Marrila]

Not much additional info this morning. A tenth body was recovered this morning, so the official death toll is now 10 with 151 unaccounted for.

More than 130 people were able to get out safely in the minutes after the collapse -- some rescued from balconies by fire units, others escaping on their own.

Searchers have also recovered some "human remains," but I'm not quite sure what that means. I assume it means body parts, but not enough to identify the victim(s). If that's the case, they will have to use DNA to identify the remains -- a process that will take at least several days, provided they have relatives' DNA samples to compare.

"Remains" are just what you refer to above. I think they are striving to be straightforward, without adding unnecessary and painfully graphic details.

 

[Feralpeg]

I have absolutely no expertise in this area and it probably had nothing to do with it, but it gave me pause when I heard that the US Navy was conducting shock wave tests about 100 miles off the coast of Palm Beach, Florida a couple of days prior to the building collapse. At least one of the test registered as 3.9 on the Richter scale. Under normal circumstances, this would be nothing. I can't help wondering, if the building was already in imminent danger of collapse, could that type of shock wave running beneath have played a factor. That really isn't that far from the Miami area.

I heard that a woman, in the building, called her husband to tell him that the building was shaking and that the pool area had become a sinkhole. That woman is among the missing. Such a tragedy.

 

[JimMIA]

I have absolutely no expertise in this area and it probably had nothing to do with it, but it gave me pause when I heard that the US Navy was conducting shock wave tests about 100 miles off the coast of Palm Beach, Florida a couple of days prior to the building collapse. At least one of the test registered as 3.9 on the Richter scale. Under normal circumstances, this would be nothing. I can't help wondering, if the building was already in imminent danger of collapse, could that type of shock wave running beneath have played a factor. That really isn't that far from the Miami area.

Yeah, that's one of the many conspiracy theories going around. The test was actually conducted 100+ miles out at sea offshore from Daytona Beach -- which is more than 250 miles north of Surfside.

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/r...orida/67-c7647d08-7c92-4abd-bfc4-9ead7b47d35e

I heard that a woman, in the building, called her husband to tell him that the building was shaking and that the pool area had become a sinkhole. That woman is among the missing. Such a tragedy.

That is partially correct. I believe she actually said she could not SEE the pool. She was in the easternmost portion of the building, which collapsed last. By the time she got to her window, the middle portion of the building had collapsed and her view of the pool was obstructed by dust from the collapse. Shortly after she made that remark her portion of the building collapsed.

 

[JimMIA]

A bit more sad news late this afternoon -- another body was recovered, bringing the death total to 11, and now 150 unaccounted for. Neither of the victims found today have been identified, pending notification of next of kin.

There are more than 300 specially trained rescuers actively working the rubble pile, and hundreds more support personnel. Rescuers are still holding out hope that they will find survivors in the voids between the rubble.

 

[JimMIA]

Again today, not much "new" news overnight. The death toll still stands at 11, but all 11 victims' names have been released. I think there at least a couple of "human remains" identifications pending, but I'm not sure how many.

There are currently more than 400 search & rescue workers working the rubble in 12 hour shifts. I'm sure there are at least that many additional support personnel involved as well.

Yesterday, a lot of the focus was removing large pieces of heavy material from the top of the debris pile. They say this will make recovery work much easier from the top of the pile. Workers are also having some problems with debris falling from the remaining standing portion of the building, so there is a small area they have to avoid.

The weather has also been an issue. We had quite a few thunderstorms yesterday. Weather was better this morning and will be this afternoon. It looks like Wednesday is going to be another thunderstormy day, but then the rest of the week looks better. We're in full rainy season now, so it's going to rain pretty hard for short periods just about every day. To the degree that the rain penetrates the debris pile, of course that is a concern, as is the heat and humidity.

So basically now we are just in the "grind-it-out" stage of the rescue effort. Rescuers have plenty of resources and there is incredible community support for the victims families.

And, of course, one survivor has filed his lawsuit and gotten his 15 minutes of fame in the news media. He had to "wait his turn" to be rescued from his balcony and climbing onto the aerial fire platform was difficult. It was so bad he said his next condo will not be oceanfront.

I can't imagine how the families waiting for information on their loved ones feel about that clown's publicity splash.