SURFSIDE, Florida - There are two reasons that keep Lizie Chernann, a 41-year-old Brazilian who has lived for two decades in Surfside, Florida, in one of the sister towers of the Champlain Towers South condo, which partially collapsed. Thursday morning leaving 11 dead so far, more than 150 missing and a terrified community.
From his room at Champlain Towers East he not only heard the adjoining structure collapse, engulfing the neighborhood in a thick cloud of dust, but since then he can hear the dozens of rescuers working around the clock with less and less hope. to find someone alive in the rubble.
And, like many other residents of North Miami Beach, Chernann also fears for the safety of his building by the sea, especially since it is not yet known exactly if the collapse of the neighboring tower was the result of structural damage of its own or if there is a danger to other tall buildings in a coastal area riddled with condominiums and luxury hotels.
"It's very hard not only to see what others are going through, but also to be scared and [think] if this could happen to any of the other buildings," Chernann tells Noticias Telemundo.
"One is left thinking at night: can mine also fall?", He adds.
Lizie Chernann, 41, has lived in Champlain Towers East for 20 years, just one hotel away from the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South tower in Surfside, Florida.
Like many of the residents of the area, she says she is worried that something could happen to her condo.
Jorge Carrasco
Following the collapse, Surfside authorities dispatched engineers on Saturday to conduct a quick inspection of the East and North towers, located just feet away from the collapsed condo, to look for potential problems and quell doubts and questions.
The three towers were built only a few years apart. First the South, in 1981. Then the North, in 1982. And the least long-lived, the East, was erected in 1994.
Facing the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the three structures have been exposed to the same climatic conditions, increasing the sea level and air salinity
. All are in the north of Miami Beach, located on what is known as a barrier island, a susceptible land of sandy and erodible soil that, according to experts, has been overexploited.
In the case of the collapsed tower and the North, both were built only one year apart by the same company - from the Polish-Canadian investor Nathan Reiber -
with the same materials and with a very similar design, also with 12 floors
.
But its residents have not been forced to evacuate, although engineers have yet to conduct a thorough inspection of structural conditions.
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June 28, 202103: 23
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett explained to Noticias Telemundo on Monday night that, two days after the collapse, the East and North towers had been inspected by experts, but the review was not "comprehensive" and the condominiums have hired their own engineering firm to inspect more in depth.
“It was done to address concerns, while we wait for an engineering firm to arrive on Tuesday.
They will carry out a kind of bottom-up evaluation to determine if the buildings are structurally safe, "he said," at that point we will be able to determine if there is a problem or not. "
Burkett had previously suggested that residents of Champlain Towers North evacuate as a precaution and said he himself would not be "excited" to stay there.
It is not known exactly how many apartments have decided to leave the building.
Florida declared itself in a state of emergency after the collapse and is providing assistance to those who have decided to evacuate and those who were forced to do so in the rest of the building that remained standing and will likely be demolished.
The search operation among the rubble of Champlain Towers South has been complicated by bad weather and fires among the ruins.
AP
Near the site of the collapse, amid the tense and gloomy atmosphere that Surfside transpires, other neighbors said that the community is being preyed not only by mourning but by concern for their homes, even those that are not facing the sea or are not so high.
Some have begun to pressure their respective condo boards and landlords to demand more transparent reports on the construction status of buildings.
“Even in buildings that are in perfect condition,
tenants have been calling me concerned about small cracks in the walls
.
People are haunted by small, unimportant details, ”says Sebastián Arbuz, 40, who has managed properties in Surfside for a decade.
"At that level comes the concern and collective madness at this time," he adds.
Sebastián Arbuz, 40, has been managing properties in Surfside for a decade.
He assures that the community is falling prey to collective concern and that many tenants have called him to express concerns about their own buildings.
Jorge Carrasco
Mara Garcia, 52, lived in Surfside for almost a decade.
While visiting the memorial that relatives and neighbors have erected with photos, candles and wreaths near the landslide, he said that if he continued to reside there, staying in his apartment by the sea would not have been an option.
“In the eight years that I lived in Surfside I never saw anything like this.
I would not be calm with what happened.
I would have left the building, ”he says.
Mara García, 52, visits the memorial in honor of those who died and disappeared after the partial collapse of Champlain Towers South, in Surfside, Forida.
Jorge Carrasco
Rosa Díaz, a 58-year-old maid who works for an apartment owner in Champlain Towers North, says anxiety is a shared feeling between owners and tenants of the building where she works nine hours a day.
"When I started my work week this Sunday, several residents had left out of fear, although without a [warning] that they had to leave for danger. There is no specific order, so those who have left have been voluntarily", he says,
"the man I work for decided to stay because he feels safe."
So far no reports have emerged affecting the other towers of negligence in their repairs over the years.
In contrast, a 2018 report warned that Champlain Towers South had serious structural failures such as "significant cracks and breaks in the concrete" that required "repairs to ensure the safety of residents and the public."
Rosa Díaz, 58, of Cuban origin, works as a cleaning employee at the Champlain Towers North condominium, where she says that some residents have voluntarily evacuated out of an abundance of caution.
Jorge Carrasco
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava ordered an audit of all buildings five or more stories high and 40 years old or older.
Inspections will take place within the next 30 days.
[Experts point to three possible flaws that could sink the Miami building]
As rescuers entered their sixth day on Tuesday removing debris without finding anyone alive, Lizie Chernann, a resident of Champlain Towers East, is confronted day and night with the tragedy.
This Monday was his birthday and he had to walk to the market to look for his cake: with the streets closed to traffic, the neighbors cannot receive home deliveries and the traffic of cars has been limited.
She tries to find calm in the fact that her condo is younger than the one that collapsed and that there, she says, the maintenance has been frequent and without delay.
But he is aware that money is not always a guarantee of safety: like his own condominium, the one that collapsed housed
expensive apartments that started at $ 600,000 and could exceed a million
, according to specialized websites.
“We just renovated the balconies,” says Chernann, “but you never know.
There will be concern until we hear the conclusions of what really happened. "