FL- 12 Story Condo Partial Building Collapse, many still unaccounted for, Miami, 24 June 2021

[dixiegirl1035]

Something happened somewhere along the line to empty the pool. Because it didn't remain full. It is clear that there is no water in it, in this picture.
Perhaps it leaked out after the collapse, perhaps firecrews used the water to put out fires, perhaps they emptied it to release some strain on the remaining structure.

View attachment 302346

No Cookies | Daily Telegraph

Agree.... I tend to think it's the widespread video of firefighters/S&R ?? in an underground area of water drilling upwards? As we now can see by posters upthread that that pool was indeed full when the sun rose. Now, is not.

There's a picture of the pool being emptied.

Thanks! Had not seen such. To relieve pressure etc...

 

[dotr]

rbbm.
Frustration mounts in search for survivors of condo collapse near Miami
''By the time yet another fire broke out amid the dusty wreckage of the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South condo complex near Miami Beach Friday, firefighters working with search-and-rescue crews in a desperate attempt to find survivors made an unusual decision: They would not immediately put the fire out.

Crews were already wading through thigh-deep water in some places, from gusty rains, rising groundwater and previously doused fires. Pouring more water onto the site could risk destabilizing the dangerous pile of rubble and anyone still trapped inside, said Billy McAllister, head of a local firefighters union. Instead, emergency workers let the fire burn, tearing through the debris to get to the source of the flames and yank it off the site.

“Can you imagine adding all that weight?” he said.''

''Underneath the parking garage of the exposed building at 8777 Collins Ave., search-and-rescue teams drilled through concrete and inserted probes with cameras to peer through the rubble. Specialized hearing devices alerted them to any sounds that could indicate a person was waiting for help — tapping, scratching, falling debris, twisting metal.

On Thursday, crews briefly heard the voice of a woman trapped somewhere under the wreckage, but it went silent before they could find anyone. On Friday, crews were using dogs trained to sniff out the scent of a living person; the dogs that come later find cadavers.''

''Engineers determined that the best chance at finding voids, or pockets of space where people might have survived, was by burrowing through the partly toppled garage.

Michael J Fagel, an emergency planner, was a scene safety and logistics officer after both the bombing of the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995 and the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept 11, 2001. He recalled from those disasters not the noise of the piles, but the silence — the life-or-death importance of listening for whispers emerge from what seems to be utter silence.

“We used stethoscopes,” Fagel, 68, said of the Oklahoma City disaster site. “We would actually stop the mission for five minutes. You’d have three blasts of an air horn. And you would listen. You hear a moan. You hear a whisper. You hear a breathing sound.”

 

[indicolite22]

Champlain Towers South resident survives by climbing through rubble in the dark with her dog

“I was one of two I think that survived on my floor,” Schechter said.

Not knowing whether or not all of her neighbors made it out has been haunting her. She said she called one of the neighbors who lived on her floor but he didn’t pick up.

 

[SouthAussie]

Chilling video from inside Surfside tower shows seconds before catastrophic collapse

Of all the terrifying images and footage we’ve seen of the Surfside tower collapse Thursday, one chilling video stands out for one reason: It’s taken from the inside.

A Twitter user with the handle @_Rosiesantana told her followers that security footage taken from inside her apartment shows what Champlain Towers South residents likely experienced before the collapse early Thursday.

“I am a resident of one of the condos on the side of the collapse,” explained the woman, who thankfully was away from home that fateful morning. “This is a video from my camera footage inside from the start of the collapse until the [loss] of connection.”

(Video in link ... crumbling ceiling, snapping sounds )

 

[indicolite22]

Surfside condo collapse: Building official was on roof before tragedy

Surfside's building official said Friday he was on the roof of the Champlain Towers South 14 hours before it collapsed and said there was "no inordinate amount of equipment or materials" that would cause the building to fall.

Jim McGuinness, who made the comment during a Town of Surfside emergency meeting, said he was on the roof to inspect work of replacing roof anchors, which are where window cleaners attach their equipment.

 

[indicolite22]

Going back to that tragic surveillance photo, I recall seeing lights come on right before the second one went down. That someone looked out and mentioned the sinkhole, but not the building down... perhaps what they could see from their balcony. I'm sure this will be very good investigative information once proven that call took place to know the timeline of events. (I have goosebumps writing this now... time to take a break from this thread... so so so so tragic the stories)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/25/condo-collapse-search-for-survivors/

From her fourth-floor balcony, Cassandra Stratton, 40, was on the phone with her husband as she watched the pool cave into a crater in the ground and felt a deep tremor in her apartment, her older sister Ashley Dean said. In a moment, the line cut off.

“She screamed bloody murder and that was it,” Dean said Stratton’s husband told her.

IMO if she saw anything at all, it must have been before the first (middle) part of the building came down, otherwise she would have only seen a cloud of dust. Maybe she was in the middle part with a good view of the pool deck. But we don't know if it all started there. The closest part of the building is still standing. I wonder for how long the building was shaking before the first part collapsed.

 

[Jewels53]

I want to thank all of you for your informative post. Websleuths is the best way to stay on top of such tragic news.

I pray they are able to find more survivors.
Rip in peace to those who have lost their lives.

 

[indicolite22]

This is about the penthouse apartment that was cut in half. Apparently the resident is still missing:

Surfside collapse: Loved ones name, show photos of those they say are missing

Linda March, Ph. 4: Local 10 broadcast video of the exposed area of the Surfside condo collapse. That video showed white bunk beds and a desk chair. Moments later, Local 10 News reporter Glenna Milberg was contacted and was told that the penthouse apartment belongs to Linda March, an attorney who moved back from New York to Surfside. The friend said they have been texting March, but they have gone unanswered.

 

[SuziQ]

i’m trying to make sense of her comment, because the pool is clearly still there in all the photos.

If you look at before pictures the pool edge is made of terra cotta color pavers. It appears the pool sunk about a foot and pavers are in the pool along the wall. The actual pool looks to be holding water still.

 

[indicolite22]

It appears (judging by Zillow pics of different views) that apartments with numbers ending with 5-9 are the ones still standing, but the rest (1-4, 10-12) collapsed. Those ending with 4 were seemingly cut in half.

 

[Herat]

The inspection report of 2018 is alarming, but the photos "appear" to my absolutely untrained eye to be relatively minor issues, although they need fixing. As in, some concrete falls off the bottom of the balcony. Bad, but impending catastrophe? Cracks in the walls - again, bad, but impending catastrophe?

The NYT and the Washington Post reports both say the plans for correction had been approved and work was scheduled for this year. There would have to be documentation of this in the owner / HOA records and of approval of funds for the repair.

I have to think, as in all remodel/ repair projects, there would be far more severe damage found when the contractors actually started ripping the damaged concrete off of there.

However, should they have found clear evidence of impending failure, I wonder how fast they would have been able to actually get the condo owners to understand they had to move out of their units for the forseeable future until the scope and cost of repair was finalized. I have to think the entire process would have taken so long and been so stunningly expensive that this would not reasonably been fixed before collapsing.

As they say, it's complicated.

But this has to be a horrible warning to older high-rise buildings at seashores around the world. Think of Waikiki Beach in Hawaii - I'm pretty sure some of those buildings are at least 30 years old and up to 50 stories tall!

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Wasn't it said that the pool was on the 2nd floor? If so, it sounds as if the building pancaked from bottom to top, as this (missing) person on the 4th floor watched the pool cave in.


From her fourth-floor balcony, Cassandra Stratton, 40, was on the phone with her husband as she watched the pool cave in, feeling the tremor, her older sister Ashley Dean said. She described the quake, and then, in a moment, the line cut off.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...live-updates/#link-7WZEI43MSBCF3N5WMRBRJJYMZI

Stories like this one are just soo. so heartbreaking....

 

[indicolite22]

If you look at before pictures the pool edge is made of terra cotta color pavers. It appears the pool sunk about a foot and pavers are in the pool along the wall. The actual pool looks to be holding water still.

The pool edge pavers still seem in their place in this photo.

The before photo:

 

[Herat]

The pool edge pavers still seem in their place in this photo.

The before photo:

I believe that the parking garage is under the entire deck area, but not the pool. So you drive into the parking garage and above you is the paved decking. The reports of water damage and degradation of the waterproofing on the deck, around the planters, et to me imply there was also concrete / steel damage because of the leaks from water on the deck, but also salt water corrosion at the floor of the garage / foundation.

That would seem to be a very messy, expensive thing to correct, having to take up all the decking and planters, remove any damaged concrete, and replace the waterproofing. Losing use of a lot of the deck and the parking spaces. $$$ and not popular with the owners, as it would almost appear to be a cosmetic thing rather than truly a mandatory infrastructure repair.

I also recall the 2018 report said it was worst near the entrance to the parking garage, which would have been very close to the pillars holding up the section that you can see collapsing first, right next to the elevator tower.

I'm not going to be staying in any old seaside high-rises for the forseeable future.

 

[Skigh]

Rescuers say 'tapping' sounds indicating life after Miami building collapse have 'dissipated' | Daily Mail Online

 

[JaimeInLA]

Champlain Towers South resident survives by climbing through rubble in the dark with her dog

“I was one of two I think that survived on my floor,” Schechter said.

Not knowing whether or not all of her neighbors made it out has been haunting her. She said she called one of the neighbors who lived on her floor but he didn’t pick up.

this is the first person I have heard mention a pet. I have been wondering about all the pets that were also lost.

 

[indicolite22]

I also recall the 2018 report said it was worst near the entrance to the parking garage, which would have been very close to the pillars holding up the section that you can see collapsing first, right next to the elevator tower.

SBM, BBM. The parking garage entrance is in the opposite side of the building and the driveway is concrete. I thought that "entrance drive" in the report referred to the brick paved path to the right of the main entrance where cars were also parked (which partly collapsed as well).

Survivors recount horror of Surfside building collapse: 'We knew it was a race against time'

 

[SuziQ]

The pool edge pavers still seem in their place in this photo.

The before photo:

At this link there is a good before and after graphic. While the pool does look sunken I see now the pavers might merely be covered in dust.

INTERACTIVE: See before and after photos of Florida condo building collapse

 

[Herat]

SBM, BBM. The parking garage entrance is in the opposite side of the building and the driveway is concrete. I thought that "entrance drive" in the report referred to the brick paved path to the right of the main entrance where cars were also parked (which partly collapsed as well).

Survivors recount horror of Surfside building collapse: 'We knew it was a race against time'

That little open parking area seems different than what I envision as the parking garage. It doesn't seem big enough to be able to handle the number of spaces that 136 units would require, so I assume the large open deck area (now tragically covered by the pancaked 12 stories) is covering the underground garage. I also think most all of the damage on the deck in this and the other photos is more likely the impact of all that weight of concrete from the falling segments of the structure.

 

[indicolite22]

That little open parking area seems different than what I envision as the parking garage. It doesn't seem big enough to be able to handle the number of spaces that 136 units would require, so I assume the large open deck area (now tragically covered by the pancaked 12 stories) is covering the underground garage. I also think most all of the damage on the deck in this and the other photos is more likely the impact of all that weight of concrete from the falling segments of the structure.

Since the paved open parking area collapsed (luckily the building above didn't), isn't it likely there's a parking garage underneath as well?