Search and rescue efforts at collapsed Surfside condo paused for demolition preparation
Search and rescue efforts at the partially collapsed South Florida condo will temporarily pause as officials prepare for the demolition of the building’s remaining units, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Saturday.Search and rescue will resume on safe sections of the site once officials are cleared to do so, she said.Levine Cava did not provide a time for the planned demolition. Officials said earlier Saturday a crew could demolish the remaining units of Champlain Towers South as soon as Sunday, ahead of the approaching Tropical Storm Elsa. Otherwise, Elsa’s winds, which might reach the area early next week, could topple the structure unsafely, officials said.A controlled demolition would temporarily halt search and rescue operations in the rubble of the already-collapsed portions. But then searchers could resume work without fear of the standing portions coming down on them, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said.”I think as early as tomorrow (Sunday)” the standing portions could be demolished, Burkett said at a news conference Saturday morning.Nearly 55 of the 136 units of the Champlain Towers South, in Surfside just north of Miami Beach, pancaked to the ground in the early hours of June 24. The death toll is 24 so far, and 124 people were unaccounted for of Saturday, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said.The forecast track for Elsa is uncertain, but even if it’s centered well west of Surfside as currently predicted, its windy outer bands could hit Surfside and southeastern Florida by Tuesday, forecasters say.The demolition timeline has not been finalized, as engineers still were at the site doing due diligence, Levine Cava said Saturday morning.But officials’ previous thinking about the timeline — that it couldn’t be done before Elsa arrived — changed after they spoke late Friday with a demolition expert who indicated it could be done sooner, Levine Cava said.Levine Cava on Friday signed an order allowing crews to demolish the remaining structure — but at the time said it could be weeks before the demolition could happen.Demolition plans still were being made, but they would aim to take the standing portions straight down with charges, Miami-Dade County Fire Chief Alan Cominsky said Saturday.The demolition would have “a very narrow footprint” so evacuations in the area are not planned, besides temporarily moving the rescuers from the rubble, Levine Cava said. Already-searched areas of the rubble would be covered before the demolition, Cominsky said.Controlled Demolition Inc. would be in charge of the demolition, and has done large demolitions in the past, Levine Cava said.Search and rescue operations continued Saturday morning at the site, where teams have been scouring concrete rubble up to 16 feet deep.Late Friday, a county attorney said in a court filing that the remaining portion of the building is not structurally sound and is behaving in ways that indicate it may fall down, a county attorney said in a court filing late Friday.Search and rescue crews were under “immediate threat” due to the building’s instability and Tropical Storm Elsa, which currently is in the Caribbean, said David Murray, the attorney for Miami-Dade County.Murray’s court filing said a collapse of the remaining structure would “cause the release of hazardous household materials, particulate matter, and will pose fire risk.””An uncontrolled collapse of the structure — which is surrounded by residential property, and which is currently being worked and secured by hundreds of fire rescue personnel, police officers, and other government employees — poses significant risk to human life and property,” Murray wrote in the filing.
Search and rescue efforts at the partially collapsed South Florida condo will temporarily pause as officials prepare for the demolition of the building’s remaining units, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Saturday.
Search and rescue will resume on safe sections of the site once officials are cleared to do so, she said.
Levine Cava did not provide a time for the planned demolition. Officials said earlier Saturday a crew could demolish the remaining units of Champlain Towers South as soon as Sunday, ahead of the approaching Tropical Storm Elsa.
Otherwise, Elsa’s winds, which might reach the area early next week, could topple the structure unsafely, officials said.
A controlled demolition would temporarily halt search and rescue operations in the rubble of the already-collapsed portions. But then searchers could resume work without fear of the standing portions coming down on them, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said.
“I think as early as tomorrow (Sunday)” the standing portions could be demolished, Burkett said at a news conference Saturday morning.
Nearly 55 of the 136 units of the Champlain Towers South, in Surfside just north of Miami Beach, pancaked to the ground in the early hours of June 24. The death toll is 24 so far, and 124 people were unaccounted for of Saturday, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said.
The forecast track for Elsa is uncertain, but even if it’s centered well west of Surfside as currently predicted, its windy outer bands could hit Surfside and southeastern Florida by Tuesday, forecasters say.
The demolition timeline has not been finalized, as engineers still were at the site doing due diligence, Levine Cava said Saturday morning.
But officials’ previous thinking about the timeline — that it couldn’t be done before Elsa arrived — changed after they spoke late Friday with a demolition expert who indicated it could be done sooner, Levine Cava said.
Levine Cava on Friday signed an order allowing crews to demolish the remaining structure — but at the time said it could be weeks before the demolition could happen.
Demolition plans still were being made, but they would aim to take the standing portions straight down with charges, Miami-Dade County Fire Chief Alan Cominsky said Saturday.
The demolition would have “a very narrow footprint” so evacuations in the area are not planned, besides temporarily moving the rescuers from the rubble, Levine Cava said. Already-searched areas of the rubble would be covered before the demolition, Cominsky said.
Controlled Demolition Inc. would be in charge of the demolition, and has done large demolitions in the past, Levine Cava said.
Search and rescue operations continued Saturday morning at the site, where teams have been scouring concrete rubble up to 16 feet deep.
Late Friday, a county attorney said in a court filing that the remaining portion of the building is not structurally sound and is behaving in ways that indicate it may fall down, a county attorney said in a court filing late Friday.
Search and rescue crews were under “immediate threat” due to the building’s instability and Tropical Storm Elsa, which currently is in the Caribbean, said David Murray, the attorney for Miami-Dade County.
Murray’s court filing said a collapse of the remaining structure would “cause the release of hazardous household materials, particulate matter, and will pose fire risk.”
“An uncontrolled collapse of the structure — which is surrounded by residential property, and which is currently being worked and secured by hundreds of fire rescue personnel, police officers, and other government employees — poses significant risk to human life and property,” Murray wrote in the filing.