$997 million potential compensation for Surfside collapse 2:10
(CNN Spanish) --
Surfside, a small city of less than 6,000 inhabitants near Miami, was practically unknown until June 24, 2021: around 1:30 am, a building partially collapsed, starting a strenuous operation search and rescue and ended with a balance of 98 people dead.
Part of the 12-story, 136-unit Champlain Towers South building collapsed in the middle of the night as many residents slept.
The 98 victims were between the ages of one and 92.
A total of 37 people were rescued alive, in the framework of an operation that lasted for a month.
12-hour shifts, the presence of trained dogs, the support of foreign rescuers, the use of multiple tools, searches in the midst of storms: the scenes of tireless work were engraved in the memory of the community, which this Thursday commemorates a year since the tragedy. .
Surfside Survivor Stories: 5 Tales From Those Who Came Out Alive From The Building Collapse
Timeline: from collapse to a $997 million deal
July 24:
Some 55 of the total 136 units collapse around 1:30 am that Thursday.
At least one person is reported dead and 37 are rescued from the rubble.
In the evening, Governor Ron DeSantis decrees a state of emergency in order to provide aid to families impacted by the collapse.
July 25:
advertising
In the morning it is reported that at least four people have died in the collapse.
From then on, the balance would grow systematically to 98 deaths.
President Joe Biden decrees a state of emergency for Florida, allowing him access to funds to respond to the tragedy.
The first lawsuit is filed against the condominium association for "failing to insure or safeguard" the lives and property of the owners of the apartments.
June 26th:
Victims begin to publicly identify themselves.
The first known name is that of Stace Fang, the mother of a child who was rescued alive from the rubble.
1st of July:
President Joe Biden visits Surfside and meets with families of the victims.
July 2nd:
North Miami Beach authorities order the immediate evacuation and closure of another building, the Crestview Towers Condominium, considered unsafe.
3rd of July:
Search efforts stop around 4 pm for engineers to secure the site and prepare it for demolition, which was understood to be key to continuing the rescue.
July 4th:
Around 10:30 pm, they demolish the remaining part of the building that was left standing.
Dust and desolation leaves collapsed building demolition 3:37
July 7-8:
Search efforts shift from rescue to body recovery "in order to bring emotional closure to families who have been suffering and waiting for weeks," explains Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
This means that trained dogs no longer enter and sonars are no longer used.
July 21:
By this date, the building's huge pile of concrete and rubble is almost an empty pit.
More than 10 million kg of debris have been removed since the collapse.
July 23th:
The Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue Department transfers the search and recovery tasks to the Police who, according to the mayor, are in charge of “a total additional search for the debris.”
July 26:
Authorities report that the last remaining victim has been identified.
This is Estelle Hedaya, 54 years old.
December 16:
The Miami-Dade grand jury that oversaw the condominium collapse offers a number of recommendations to help prevent a similar event, including, most notably, drastic changes to the county's 40-year recertification requirement.
March 30, 2022:
A Florida judge approves an $83 million settlement for former condo owners and the heirs of people who died.
May 12, 2022:
Victims and families of 98 people who died reach $997 million tentative settlement after filing class action lawsuit.
Several entities are participating in the agreement, including the condominium association, the city of Surfside and engineering and infrastructure companies.
Justice has yet to approve it.
May 22, 2022:
CNN reports that the woman whose voice was heard in the rubble for several hours after the collapse has been identified.
It was about Theresa Velásquez, who was 36 years old when she died along with her parents.
What happened?
The "pancake collapse" theory
What happened?
And because?
After the collapse, these questions automatically arose and experts began to analyze the possible causes of the tragedy, while official investigations were launched.
What happened to this 1981 building was quickly identified as a "pancake collapse," a type of collapse named for the way the floors drop and stack up.
"Pancake collapses tend to 'stack' floors on themselves, causing their entire weight to fall almost entirely on the floor below," Favre Gregg Favre, executive director of St. Louis Regional Response Systems, told CNN at the time. Louis, former commanding officer of the St. Louis Fire Department and a seasoned member of the special rescue team.
The story of a survivor of the Surfside tragedy, Miami 4:28
A pancake collapse, said expert Necati Catbas, is a "progressive failure" that often starts at the bottom when a load-bearing element is damaged, usually in the lower floors or foundation of a building, and that causes upper stories to collapse vertically onto lower stories.
These "pancake collapses" are more dangerous than other collapses because there are often few voids, or pockets of space and air, in the debris.
The most infamous example is the fall of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in the attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York.
A year after the tragedy: the most shocking images of the building collapse in Surfside
The investigation: 7 key facts known after the collapse
One year after the collapse of the building, the final results of the investigation into the causes carried out by federal and local authorities with the participation of experts have not yet been announced.
However, facts have been known that could be linked to the collapse, according to experts, and which were widely commented on after the collapse.
Here, a review of seven key elements.
1. Sinking in the 90s
Shimon Wdowinski, a professor at the Institute of the Environment at Florida International University, told CNN after the collapse that a 2020 study concluded that Champlain Towers South showed signs of having collapsed in the 1990s. The building's sinking rate was about two millimeters a year between 1993 and 1999, according to their study.
Wdowinski said this sinking alone probably wouldn't cause the collapse, but could be a contributing factor.
"If one part of the building moves relative to the other, that could cause some stress and cracking," he explained.
2. Restoration work on the roof
Restoration work was underway on the concrete roof at the time the condominium collapsed, then-Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said, though it was unclear if that could be a factor in the collapse.
The works sought to comply with the "40-year standards", a reinforcement of the building code that was enacted after the passage of Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
3. 2018 report that found damage
In 2018, a structural review carried out by the engineering firm Morabito Consultants Inc had detected significant structural damage below the pool deck.
"Failed waterproofing is causing significant structural damage to the concrete structural slab beneath these areas," the report said.
He had also detected "cracks and chips" located in the parking lot.
"Spalling" is a term used to describe areas of concrete that have cracked or crumbled.
4. 2021 letter with warning
A letter sent in April 2021 by the building's board chair to residents claimed that the damage observed in 2018 had worsened. "Observable damage, such as in the garage, has worsened significantly since the initial inspection," it said.
5. Vibrations
In addition to documented structural problems and "40 years of exposure to salt, water, and salty air," vibrations from construction work, heavy equipment on the roof, and damage to the roof may have played a role in the collapse. by water from the building's swimming pool, Mehrdad Sasani, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northeastern University, told CNN at the time.
6. Sea level rise
The rise in sea level, depending on the type of soil in a place, can eventually cause a building to collapse for two reasons, Arnoldo Valle-Levinson, a professor at the Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering at the University, explained to CNN en Español after the collapse. University of Florida: Corrosion and weakening of soils supporting structures.
Sea level rise is a "factor to take into account" and analyze "whether it can be ruled out (or not) as a factor that caused the collapse," he said at the time.
7. The ground where Miami was built
To the factor of sea level rise, which is a danger in coastal areas around the world, we must add the particularities of the soil in South Florida.
This area is built on porous limestone rock, and as the water level rises, the space between the ground and the water decreases, something that could cause flooding without even a drop of water falling.
Those floods can lead to land subsidence, which could also be a key to the case.
With information from Eliott C. McLaughlin, Shawn Nottingham, Gerardo Lemos, Ana María Mejía, Joe Sutton, Aditi Sangal, Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya, Kate Sullivan, Kevin Liptak, Rosa Flores, Rebekah Riess, Theresa Waldrop, Deanna Hackney, Michael Roa , Madeline Holcombe, Paul Vercammen, Andy Rose, Deanna Hackney, Amanda Watts, Jaide Timm-Garcia, Chuck Johnston, Scottie Andrew, Hollie Silverman and Miguel Ángel Antoñanzas.
miamisurfside
