Miami area condo collapse

[princesscinderella]

Unfortunately this building was built in the 80s and building codes were all over the place back then. The community that was wiped out after hurricane Andrew was also built around that time. It was only after Andrew that a much stricter building code was implemented. It’s so heartbreaking that this happened. My prayers go out to all involved. It’s been updated that 102 people have been accounted for.

 

[Dan Murphy]

The interactive here gives a good perspective

 

[Dan Murphy]

Has anyone seen the footage of the actual collapse that a nearby building’s camera caught it?

video

 

[JimMIA]

Here's the perspective Dan is talking about above.

This view appears to be from a drone located at about the beach shoreline, looking almost due west. This is BEFORE.



And this is AFTER.

In the after pic, most of the vehicles shown in the background are fire vehicles. The yellow ones are Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. Red would be either Miami FD or Miami Beach.

The building next door on the right is a Bluegreen timeshare.

 

[HeatherC]

So heartbreaking all around. I do hope they find many more survivors, but also know the chances are becoming more remote at this point.

 

[TLSnell1981]

My thought (having rented a condo almost as if it were a hotel) is that maybe a lot of these units weren't occupied because they're either vacation units or they weren't rented out. I understand that summer isn't the peak season for vacation rentals because the weather can be pretty nasty.

Unfortunately it's been reported that most were first time homeowners.

 

[PlainJane]

My stomach dropped when I saw the bunk beds. I hope it was an unrented AirBnB. I know someone said it has high owner occupancy, but I just really hope for some reason a lot of those apartments were empty that night. How horrific. I live in a beach town. When I look up at the huge oceanfront towers I sometimes have morbid thoughts about the possibility of fires, but a collapse never even occurred to me. I’m praying there are more survivors and they find them in time.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

My stomach dropped when I saw the bunk beds. I hope it was an unrented AirBnB. I know someone said it has high owner occupancy, but I just really hope for some reason a lot of those apartments were empty that night. How horrific. I live in a beach town. When I look up at the huge oceanfront towers I sometimes have morbid thoughts about the possibility of fires, but a collapse never even occurred to me. I’m praying there are more survivors and they find them in time.

Same. I think the bunk beds on the top floor, inches from the edge, made it so apparent that this was an occupied building at the time of the collapse.

I woke up to a news notification on my phone about it, and was struggling to comprehend what they meant. I was not expecting what I saw. It's absolutely horrifying that something like that can happen with no obvious signs of warning. I am hoping they find more survivors, but it's so compressed.

 

[JimMIA]

The latest information, released this morning, is the following:

• Four dead
• 120 accounted for
• 159 unaccounted for

Crews are working 24/7, tunneling into the wreckage to try to locate survivors. The operation is still in the rescue phase and will be until there is no hope of finding anyone else alive.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

It's terrible. I can't imagine the absolute terror of being caught in that.

 

[TheIncredibles!]

Are they still finding survivors or no?

 

[bcla]

Are they still finding survivors or no?

It would seem improbable that after 24 hours that more bodies haven’t been discovered. I wonder what the deal is with that.

 

[Marrila]

It would seem improbable that after 24 hours that more bodies haven’t been discovered. I wonder what the deal is with that.

I read they have to work slowly and carefully because the site is unstable.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Are they still finding survivors or no?

The wreckage pretty much pancaked, with all the heavy concrete that was involved. So anything underneath was likely pretty much flattened.

Latest footage showed that fire fighters were attempting to go up from underneath the wreckage to find survivors, with water all around them, and putting their own lives at risk if there was further collapse.

They are also saying that this building has had structural problems for a long time.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...Miami-condo-tower-taking-death-toll-four.html

 

[JimMIA]

Are they still finding survivors or no?

Yes, they've found several -- including a teenaged boy and a woman whose leg had to be amputated on the scene in order to free her from the rubble.

It's amazing how long people can survive something like this. There have been cases where they've recovered people a week after being buried. After Hurricane Andrew in 1992, we recovered an elderly man in a destroyed house two weeks after the storm. His comment: "Thanks officers. I knew you would come for me!"

These are very experienced Urban Search and Rescue teams searching the rubble. They have the best people, equipment, training, and very sophisticated technology. They have reported that they are still hearing sounds under the rubble.

 

[JimMIA]

The fire folks have now brought in Task Force #2, which is an additional Urban Search and Rescue unit of local firefighters. This particular task force also includes both live-find and cadaver dogs to locate deceased victims.

https://www.local10.com/news/local/...their-way-to-help-surfside-building-collapse/

 

[mi*vida*loca]

The stories of the missing are heartbreaking.

 

[JimMIA]

The stories of the missing are heartbreaking.

Yes, and they will get worse. We remain hopeful that some additional people will be rescued, but there are 159 unaccounted for.

Some of those will be located, because it will turn out they were not in the building when it collapsed as relatives thought -- but a lot of those will turn out to be casualties. I'm afraid the numbers are going to be grim.

 

[gopher101]

This is so very devastating.

 

[JimMIA]

Well, the mayor just held her briefing and there is very little new news...which is bad news.

The only new info provided is that the Medical Examiner's Office has identified three of the four known dead. One is the mother of the 15 year-old boy pulled out and carried to safety by firefighters. The identities of the other two victims have not been released, pending notification of next of kin.

Still 159 unaccounted for, and firefighters are still searching. 40+ hours since the disaster and rescuers have not found any survivors since the 15 year-old boy was pulled out in the first few minutes after the collapse.