Condo collapse live updates: Rescue mission for 152 missing people enters fifth day
Rescue crews are continuing to search through the rubble for survivors after a 12-story oceanfront condo tower partially collapsed in Surfside, just north of Miami Beach. The portion of Champlain Towers South that crumbled faces the ocean.
People who have loved ones at the condo, unaccounted for or safe, should call 305-614-1819 to notify officials. Anyone who lives at the Champlain Towers and is safe is asked to complete a Wellness Check form to help the Miami-Dade County keep track of tenants.
Here’s what we know so far:
Surfside official sent disturbing report told board condo was ‘in good shape’
6:35 a.m.: A month after an engineer’s report flagged “major structural damage” at Champlain Towers South, the chief building official for the town of Surfside told residents the condominium was “in very good shape,” according to minutes from a November 2018 board meeting obtained by the Miami Herald.
Ross Prieto, who left the post last year, had reviewed the engineer’s report, the minutes say. Records show condo board member Mara Chouela forwarded a copy to him two days earlier.
An email posted on the town’s website shows that Chouela sent Prieto two reports: the “structural field survey report” by engineer Frank Morabito of Morabito Consultants detailing the building’s structural deficiencies, and a mechanical and electrical engineering report by Thomas E. Henz. P.E. And it was Chouela who introduced Prieto at the meeting with five of the seven board members, along with property manager Alexandria Santamaria, condo board lawyer Marilyn Perez and interested residents who had gathered in the building’s recreation room.
But over the weekend, Prieto told the Miami Herald he didn’t remember getting the report.
He said he didn’t recall the email from Chouela, who had also shared cost estimates for the repair work. Prieto said he wasn’t aware that the town had received the report, which detailed “abundant cracking” in concrete columns, beams and walls.
Here’s why the search and rescue mission is complex
6:35 a.m.: The tragic collapse of Champlain Towers South condominium presents Miami-Dade Fire Rescue with a difficult search-and-rescue mission.
“This is the most complex situation we’ve ever encountered,” MDFR Assistant Fire Chief Ray Jadallah told family, friends and loved ones of victims in an update posted by Instagram user abigailpereiraok.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue has an international accreditation that few departments have. Their rescue workers get sent to disasters all over the world. But the department now faces a complex set of issues, including a “deep” fire.
Key facts
6:35 a.m.: Here’s what you need to know Monday morning:
▪ The death toll is at nine. The number of missing is 152. The Surfside building collapsed at 1:23 a.m. Thursday. The tower fell while residents slept. The side of the building that collapsed faces the beach.
▪ Evacuations are optional, not mandatory, at the collapsed condo’s sister building, Champlain Towers North Condo, about a block away. Residents who want to relocate can use FEMA funds.
▪ It will likely be months or even years before engineers and other experts know exactly why a part of the Champlain Towers South came crashing down.
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