Rescue efforts in search of survivors of the collapse of the Surfside building, north of Miami,
were resumed this Thursday afternoon,
after a break at dawn that lasted 15 hours due to the danger that the remaining structure would collapse , as announced by Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett.
The halt in the work occurred hours before the president, Joe Biden, arrived in the area one week after the tragedy, which has so far left 18 dead and more than 140 missing.
However, local authorities have repeated that the presidential visit had nothing to do with their decision.
["The really hard thing is not knowing if they have survived." Biden emotionally supports the families and rescuers of the Surfside building]
The chief of the Miami-Dade Fire Department, Alan Cominsky, explained in a press conference that at 02:11 am (local time on the East Coast) alarms were activated warning of movements in the work zones, so operations were stopped.
Specifically, an expansion of between 6 to 12 inches was detected in a column located in the parking area, as well as movements in a concrete plate and in the back of the residential complex that is still standing.
This instability forced operations to stop because the priority is "to protect the safety of first responders," said Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
Rescue operations were resumed "at full power," Burkett said.
A group of engineers determined after evaluating the terrain that it was safe to continue rescue operations, but only in certain stable areas.
[
"Oh my God! The building is gone !: the chilling voice memo a woman sent as soon as her Surfside building collapsed
]
Levine Cava reported at a press conference in the afternoon that they were
"planning the probable demolition of the building"
that partially collapsed in Surfside.
"This is a decision that we must take in an extremely careful and methodical way. As we consider all the possible impacts on the pile of rubble and our search and rescue operation," he added.
Engineer Scott Knightman, a specialist sent by FEMA to assist local authorities, explained that they were still in the planning phase of the demolition: "At best it will be weeks before we can determine a schedule."
Cominsky also revealed that noises were heard in the first moments of the rescue that seemed to correspond to a woman's voice.
After a few hours digging in the direction from which it came, the workers stopped hearing it and presumed that the person died.
Surfside crash survivors say "God sent them signs all day"
June 30, 202102: 19
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis reported that the work done so far has removed nearly 1,400 tons of debris.
He also affirmed that the authorities are very aware of the tropical storm Elsa, which formed last night in the Atlantic Ocean and is moving towards the Caribbean.
"We do not expect it to have a direct impact" in Miami in the coming days, but the operational command of the rescue work is pending before any change that may affect the search, he explained.
Presidential visit
Biden, who is traveling with his wife, held a briefing with the local authorities, who informed him of where the jobs are, and later met with representatives of the emergency teams who work day and night.
"We understand that what you are doing is psychologically tough," he told them.
"I assure you that we are aware that what they do is incredible," he stressed.
Rescue teams in partially collapsed building in Surfside, Wednesday, June 30.
Biden will also meet several hours with the families of the victims of the tragedy, who are awaiting news of their loved ones.
Authorities continue to investigate what triggered the 12 stories of Champlain Towers South to sink in the early morning of June 24, forming a thick mound of debris more than 30 feet high.
In recent days, several documents have come to light denouncing the damaged structure of the building: the report made by an engineer in 2018 on the deteriorated architecture;
a 2020 Florida university study stating that the condo had been sinking since 1990;
and the letter that the president of the neighborhood association sent to residents in April, warning that the damage detected three years ago had "significantly worsened."
New tunnels
Before stopping the search, emergency teams had managed to find new tunnels under the ruins, which allowed finding new fatalities.
Among the bodies located there are two sisters aged 4 and 10.
The names of the victims found on Wednesday are the sisters Lucía Guara, 4 years old and Emma Guara, 10 years old;
Anaely Rodríguez, 42 years old and Andreas Giannitsopoulos, 21 years old.
"Every loss of life is something tragic, but
the loss of children is something terrible
. We share the pain of these families," said the mayor of Miami-Dade Wednesday afternoon.
County Sheriff's Director Freddy Ramirez said he hopes Biden's visit will be a moral injection for the entire community.
[The rescuers moles of Mexico: waiting to join the rescue efforts in Miami]
The state fire chief, Jimmy Patronis, said that he hopes to convey to the president the
need to offer psychological help
to rescue teams for the possible post-traumatic stress they may suffer.
"We want to make sure that when they finally come home, we give them the strength to be able to go back to work without fear of nightmares and challenges," he added.
