FL Condo Collapse: 8 More Bodies, Work Continues Despite Storm

SURFSIDE, FL — Despite the threat of Tropical Storm Elsa, search-and-rescue efforts continued around the clock at the site of Champlain Towers South, the 12-story condo tower that partially collapsed June 24, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniela Levine Cava said at a Tuesday news conference.

While the western portion of the state bore the brunt of the storm, there were still adverse weather conditions that hit South Florida, the mayor said. “These teams continue through extremely adverse and challenging conditions. Through the rain and through the wind, they have continued searching.”

Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said strong winds hampered the large cranes moving heavy debris at the site.

Work at the collapsed condo tower paused briefly around 1 a.m. Tuesday because of thunderstorms in the area, Miami-Dade Fire Chief Alan Cominsky said.

First responders were forced to leave the site for about 30 minutes, as is legally required when there is a lightning strike 2.5 miles from any work site, the mayor said. Workers were forced to stop a second time Tuesday afternoon because of the weather.

Since Monday night, another eight victims have been pulled from the rubble, the mayor said. This brings the total number of confirmed dead to 36, she said.

Related: 2 South FL Buildings Evacuated After Damage Found: Report

So far, 29 of the victims have been identified, she added. Another 191 people have been accounted for, and there are 109 reports of people who potentially could have been in the building at the time of its collapse. Miami-Dade police have only been able to confirm that 70 of those unaccounted for were in the building when it fell.

The county and many South Florida cities continue their reviews of older buildings to prevent a similar tragedy from happening. A 10-story condo tower in North Miami Beach and a three-story apartment building in Miami Beach were evacuated because of structural and safety concerns.

In Surfside, building officials are responding to inquiries from large buildings throughout the city, Burkett said. Building owners have been advised to complete full structural reviews.

They’re doing also doing “a deep dive” into Champlain Towers North, the mayor said. Officials have “deep concerns about that building, given that we don’t know what has happened” at its sister building, Champlain Towers South, he added.

Champlain Towers North “is essentially the same building, built by the same developer at the same time with the same plan, probably with the same materials, and given we do not know why the first building fell down, we have significant concerns about that (sister) building and the residents there,” Burkett said.

The town is looking at the building’s structural systems, including using ground-penetrating radar, to review “the columns, the beams, the slabs, and try to get our arms around what may be happening and what did happen,” the mayor said.