Miami area condo collapse

[Pea-n-Me]

My husband is currently mourning his best friend that he’s known since he was a child (completely unrelated to this). His left behind a wife and a young son. It is shocking to me that someone would compare that grief to someone who left behind their cat or be sad for animals but not people. It’s sad that those animals will most likely perish. It’s sad that they’re probably hungry, thirsty, and frightened. They will be missed by their owners. It is not the same. That little boy would much rather have lost a dog than his dad.

It wasn’t a real comment. It was pot stirring. We all understand losing a loved one. (And sorry for your loss. I had one - well, three - recently, too.)

 

[Boopuff]

This is so awful! I can't imagine how the survivors feel (those who were in the standing portion of the tower) Their pain must not only be survivor guilt, but leaving behind cherished heirlooms and irreplaceable items. Not at all to over shadow the horrific event and the fact that so many families have gone missing. Loosing a loved one is terrible, but to see your home, friends, family destroyed is just too much.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Plus other underlying circumstances need to be taken into consideration such as weather, wind, and iches from the ocean- salt damage. Maybe I have a different prespective since I've seen what the PNW ocean & Gales to do to Oregon Coast homes. Salt itself is corrosive in nature. Unfortunately fingers will be pointed elsewhere, where environment won't even get the blame. Would like to see going forward that buildings feet from the coast shouldn't be high rise, yet it won't happen.

Speaking of perspective, I live about 10 miles from this condo. Nature definitely played a part, but that was to be expected. If it played the largest roll, there would be unstable buildings all around there. Most people realize a building next to the ocean has to be well built & well maintained to withstand the harsh conditions. Neither of those appear to be the case in this situation. I will say I am not ready to declare that was definitely what brought the building down. There is a possibility that something catastrophic caused the collapse, but that is yet to be discovered. From previous reports, we do know that the structure was poorly built & poorly maintained.

 

[JimMIA]

Here's an interview with Israeli Colonel Golan Vach, the head of the 50-person Israeli team that has been here since about the day after the Surfside building collapse.

In the interview, he says the chances of any survivors are minimal at this point.

The interviewers here, particularly Michael Putney, are not the greatest, but the Colonel is very straightforward and honest in his responses.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

This is so awful! I can't imagine how the survivors feel (those who were in the standing portion of the tower) Their pain must not only be survivor guilt, but leaving behind cherished heirlooms and irreplaceable items. Not at all to over shadow the horrific event and the fact that so many families have gone missing. Loosing a loved one is terrible, but to see your home, friends, family destroyed is just too much.

So true. People who have fires know everything is gone, but to stand there and look at you stuff but you cant touch it is a whole diffrent kind of thing.

 

[brockash]

Somehow the news of the doomed pets upsets me more than the people who died.

It's because it's giving them a death sentence...it's one thing for a tragedy to happen and there was literally nothing that could have been done - the bldng collapsed and ppl. died without really having a chance...with the pets- they're still there and alive and could be saved, but have not been deemed worth the risk. Different feelings for sure.

 

[brockash]

So this was really bothering me as well, I live in South Florida and I followed it
They did three sweeps today with cameras and traps in the units owners reported animals.
They retrieved birds, dogs and cats untill no were found. The building is scheduled for demo tomorrow. The miami mayor said pet family members are important and they did everything they could.


"Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Saturday that at least three sweeps have been conducted, some by camera, at a portion of the complex still standing - and that no animals have been found.

Miami Commissioner Ken Russell, who is also married to a veterinarian, added that the fire department is still helping out while not taking any resources away from human rescue.

Earlier in the week, a firefighter attempted to locate the missing cat of an elderly woman and her daughter who lived on the fourth floor of the still-standing wing of the condominium tower. The two women had escaped with their dog, Rigatoni. But their cat, Coco, was apparently left behind in the scramble to escape.

"Once I realized a cat was still in jeopardy, I called the fire chief," he said.

And so a firefighter hung by the edge of the bucket truck and started calling for Coco.

"What we're doing is looking in through the balconies where doors are open. We're trying to leave food or water on balconies for any pets we know of," Russell said.


"People rely on them for their mental stability and their comfort," Russell said. "To know that they left their animal behind is a tremendous sense of guilt."

Russell is also working with Friends of Miami Animals to help pets and families reunite."

I'm guessing the poster was responding/reacting to another poster who has said multiple times that there would not be any effort made to look for or rescue live pets...and it seemed to be said with authority, asif they knew for 100% fact there would be no effort made...it appears that poster was wrong, but as a reader it was certainly confusing and I can only assume that's where the posters thoughts were. I'm sure all grieve for the humans that have perished as well as any pets who will perish tomorrow or whenever the building is destroyed.

 

[DisneyOma]

I’m perfectly fine with you correcting the details. Thank you.

My point was and is that I’m honestly horrified by the lack of compassion (from some, and I’m not at all referring to you NYCgrrl) for people mourning and most likely preparing to mourn their dead loved ones.

My husband is currently mourning his best friend that he’s known since he was a child (completely unrelated to this). His left behind a wife and a young son. It is shocking to me that someone would compare that grief to someone who left behind their cat or be sad for animals but not people. It’s sad that those animals will most likely perish. It’s sad that they’re probably hungry, thirsty, and frightened. They will be missed by their owners. It is not the same. That little boy would much rather have lost a dog than his dad.

But that's how you feel - it's not really fair to tell others how they should feel about a situation, is it? For me, the people are already dead, and while it was a horrible death, there is nothing to be done to save them (I'm thinking those that were trapped alive have passed by now) But if the animals in the standing building are still alive, why not try to save them? They were trapped in there by humans, not by their own free will, and now we are going to just let them die.

 

[PlainJane]

It wasn’t a real comment. It was pot stirring. We all understand losing a loved one. (And sorry for your loss. I had one - well, three - recently, too.)

I'm so sorry for your losses

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

A rescue worker found his own elementary age daughter dead in the rubble. He worked the scene through the anguish of knowing his baby girl was probably gone. Probably wondering what her last moments were like. Did she suffer? Was it quick?And he worked it anyway. That father has to wake up for the rest of his life and remember it wasn’t just a bad dream.

I know I’m speaking into the wind, but I decided to say it anyway.

This brings tears to my eyes. I can't imagine the anguish he felt.

 

[PlainJane]

But that's how you feel - it's not really fair to tell others how they should feel about a situation, is it? For me, the people are already dead, and while it was a horrible death, there is nothing to be done to save them (I'm thinking those that were trapped alive have passed by now) But if the animals in the standing building are still alive, why not try to save them? They were trapped in there by humans, not by their own free will, and now we are going to just let them die.

We have all heard the stories of people who have run back into a fire to get a beloved pet. Some make it back. Some get trapped and then a firefighter has to go try to save them. Maybe that person was willing to die to save their pet, but now we've added the possibility of the firefighter dying too.

I'm sure there are many people willing to try to save those animals, but they are not just risking their lives, it's also the rescue workers who would/might have to try to save them. If they don't think the building is stable enough to risk people going in, then you can't go save the animals.

The same types of decisions are made about saving people too. When a building/scene is too risky, you cannot try to do a rescue.

Edited to add: I also don't think the people in charge would allow volunteers to go on a "suicide mission" no matter how willing they are, if the building is deemed too dangerous and unstable. They're in the business of public safety.

 

[JimMIA]

I'm guessing the poster was responding/reacting to another poster who has said multiple times that there would not be any effort made to look for or rescue live pets...and it seemed to be said with authority, asif they knew for 100% fact there would be no effort made...it appears that poster was wrong, but as a reader it was certainly confusing and I can only assume that's where the posters thoughts were. I'm sure all grieve for the humans that have perished as well as any pets who will perish tomorrow or whenever the building is destroyed.

I assume you are talking about a couple of my posts -- and yes, I was wrong in saying that I didn't think they would attempt to feed the animals.

We found out later that they used what is described as a "cherry-picker" to leave food for one of the cats, and apparently tried to call to her. They also made at least three searches of the interior of the standing portion of the building "...with cameras." To me, that means drones flown into the buildings to search.

The main point I was trying to make is that authorities would not risk any rescuer lives to recover pets. I meant putting rescue workers inside the building in the hope of finding pets. I did not think they would (or should) do that...and they did not.

Nor did they put rescuers back into unsafe portions of the building to search for people.

We can all sit at our keyboards and criticize any aspect of this, but we don't have to make the tough decisions. This is risky business -- some risks are acceptable, and some are not.

THE reason they are demolishing the building is that unacceptable risks have made 2/3 of the rubble and all of the standing portion unsearchable.

I think we are all greatly saddened by ALL the deaths -- both people and pets. Because one DIS member focuses on people and another focuses on pets doesn't mean they don't value both.

 

[Princessclab]

The same holds true for single family home ownership.

The 1% rule says you should set aside 1% of your homes value every year for repairs. Your house worth $300,000, make sure to put aside that $250 a month.

I don't think I know a single person who does that. Instead every repair is a dip into credit or a pull from the home equity line of credit.

I do know that the average DISer probably sets aside closer to 20%. They probably also head to the monthly HOA meetings and demand higher assessments!

I have attended the majority of my neighborhoods annual HOA meetings. There is usually only about 15% of the homes represented. Any mention of raising the annual dues are met with anger and resentment from those at the meeting and from those that hear about the potential increase later. Then when the clubhouse needs a repair and the reserves are underfunded, those same people yell and scream, why, why, why?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Yes. I live in an HOA complex and the dues are set by the BOD, which were elected by the 'community'. With a good BODthe primary responsibility is the building (s) maintenance and integrity and of any other common elements. These are defined, by law, in the HOA rules and regulations.
According to our state laws it is mandatory to set aside reserve money for this.
Now, we have had special assessments outside of the reserves because of greater needs based on other influences on the common elements ie weather, storms, other damages, materials of buildings that didn't age well. The assessment was decided by the BOD and billed to each HO. If the bill was not paid a lien was placed on the home; there people who refused because they did not want to pay. They lost their homes and it was all legal.
By law people who live in a HOA must comply with these things, they know that going in. So refusing isn't an option.
In my state the HOA is a non-profit business so it is run as a business.
Just stating how our HOA works, under no circumstances do I believe the HO are responsible for this tradgedy.
My prayers are with everyone affected by this.

 

[JimMIA]

The remainder of Champlain Towers South will be demolished tonight between 10 PM and 3 AM according to the Miami Herald.

ETA: Since I posted this, the official announcement has been made -- 10 PM to 3 AM.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article252564493.html
https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local...emainder-of-collapsed-surfside-condo/2487680/

 

[JimMIA]

Unbelievably, the Atlanta Journal & Constitution (insert "puking" emoji) is broadcasting the building demolition LIVE on YouTube.

I guess there is no limit to what some folks will do for "clicks!"

 

[kdonnel]

Unbelievably, the Atlanta Journal & Constitution (insert "puking" emoji) is broadcasting the building demolition LIVE on YouTube.

I guess there is no limit to what some folks will do for "clicks!"

 

[Disneyfan754321]

20k watching a building sitting there... says it's been streaming 8 hours.
It's so sad... these are peoples homes

 

[JimMIA]

20k watching a building sitting there... says it's been streaming 8 hours.
It's so sad... these are peoples homes

Yeah. One of our local TV stations is live-streaming from another angle.

 

[kdonnel]

20k watching a building sitting there... says it's been streaming 8 hours.
It's so sad... these are peoples homes

While it is peoples homes, it is news.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

It’s gone.

Shedding tears for all the loss of life there.