On Thursday, tragedy struck Surfside, a town just outside of Miami, Florida. This tragedy was due to the collapse of a 13-story condo, known as Champlain Towers South, that took place in the middle of the night. Here are the details that we have so far.
Survivors from the collapse said that they were woken up at about 1:30 in the morning by the sound of fire alarms, the feeling of the ground trembling and debris falling from the ceiling. Soon after, about half of the 135 units in the building collapsed.
As of Monday, 37 people have been rescued from the building. 35 of them were saved from the part of the building that remained intact. An additional 2 people were pulled from the rubble. On the other hand, there have been 11 people confirmed dead at this time, and approximately 150 people remain missing. However, the search has not ended, so it is likely that more people will be found.
By this point in time, it has been extensively noted that this was not just a natural disaster. There have been multiple different things uncovered since the building’s collapse that clearly show this was very much avoidable. For example, 1 lawsuit from 2015 alleged that there had been water damage and cracking due to the building’s management failing to maintain one of the exterior walls. It was then discovered that this wasn’t the first time this lawsuit had been filed, with the management company paying for the damages the first time.
Furthermore, a 2018 report showed that there was extensive damage to several areas of the building, including massive concrete deterioration. This deterioration showed largely in the slabs underneath the pool deck, as well as in the parking garage. The 2018 report recommended that the slabs under the deck be replaced, since there were already unrepairable cracks, as well as the fact that there would be more cracks down the line because the slabs had been laid flat. This allows for close to no water runoff. They need to be sloped to keep the water from seeping in. However, when the same company returned in 2020 to do the 40-year recertification for the building, they noticed that there had been zero effort to replace the damaged concrete. In fact, by the time the building collapsed, only roof repairs had been started.
The damage in the parking garage was also pretty severe. The 2018 report said that some of the cracking was minor. However, there were several pillars and beams that had exposed and deteriorating rebar. The walls also had some structural damage that had not been tended to at all. It was also noted that the entrance drive had worrying amounts of damage that should have been repaired immediately.
Another thing that could have contributed to the building’s collapse was the fact that it had been sinking into the ground since the 1990s. Shimon Wdowinski, a professor in the department of earth and environment at Florida International University, had brought to attention a study done in the 1990s that showed the building sinking at a rate of about 2 mm per year. He noted that the building’s rate of sinking could have been a factor in the disaster, especially since it could have started sinking faster or slower after the study had ended. At this time, however, it is unknown if this actually was a notable factor.
The sister condo to the one that collapsed, Champlain Towers North, was not evacuated, with both the town and the county sending in building inspectors to do an analysis on its condition. There were no reported concerns for the building. However, residents of the sister condo are living with some fear, due to the fact that the building had been built by the same people that built Champlain Towers South. Not to mention, the two buildings had been built just one year apart from one another. These things have led to many of the residents asking if it is actually safe to stick around.
With the rubble still being searched, and with no conclusive reason as to why the condo collapsed, there is still a lot more to come from this situation. To keep up with this story, head over to Twitter and give us a follow. You will receive all of the breaking news as it comes out.
