Florida building collapse: Emergency response after incident in Surfside near Miami

I bet 'cha a-dollar-to-a-donut... that hiring a gifted 'Dowser' to do a comprehensive 'Dowsing' would have discovered that a Vortex of some degree was directly below the building lot

perhaps a salt dome was dissolving somewhat below the ground level, causing the long duration 'sinking' of that particular building---> forensic investigation of the area geology might reveal a 'vertical shaft' caused the condo to self destruct

originally posted by: Realtruth

I would wager we're going to discover it'll be a combination of all three. When this happens it'll absolutely reformat Florida's building codes, and commercial inspection process.

Just in. Building official had just been on the roof-top of the collapsed building. Property owners of commercial buildings in Florida are going to be very unhappy soon, many buildings will most likely be condemned because of the cost to repair and/or stabilize them.

Building official was on roof of Florida condominium only hours before collapse


Déjà vu ??

Jim McGuinness said at an emergency meeting on Friday that he was inspecting work on the building’s roof anchors, which are used by window cleaning crews, the Palm Beach Post reported. McGuinness added that he saw nothing of concern at the time, nor any “inordinate amount of equipment” that might have raised any red flags. Florida Building Collapse: What we know about the victims

In the aftermath of the collapse, however, he does believe Thursday’s tragedy will change the inspection processes and building codes throughout the county, if not the country.

a reply to: St Udio

I have become more familiar with the catastrophe, mostly thru NY POST articles on other areas sinking over time...

i suppose that 12,000BCE ocean levels are the Key to finding the cause of the general areas' sinking in spots

i suppose a 4' deep , island dotted 'Marsh' was covered up very long ago and the 'voids' where water once stood are now collapsing, hence the 1/2" annual sinking taking place for over a decade in the 1990s

and as far as lawsuits, only a very astute condo owner would have insured against 'sink-hole destruction' which appears to be the likely cause

that's my guess, somewhat educated guess of actual cause of collapse some 150 foot down-there in a sand-clay topography



ETA
is that side scan radar effective at such depths, they locate oil deposits with such sonar / radar graphs

a reply to: St Udio

is that side scan radar effective at such depths, they locate oil deposits with such sonar / radar graphs

Side scan sonar is for looking for things on the bottom of large bodies of water. I think you mean ground penetrating radar and seismic scans. The ground penetrating radar is for shallow work and the seismic scans are for deeper scans.

a reply to: St Udio

Building was constructed on a barrier island Barrier Islands are basically sand bars which are located just offshore from mainland

The islands are constantly shifting do to currents and storms Building on such an island, especially a large 12 story building means have to sink piles deep into ground to hit bedrock

The ground here is waterlogged and unstable, hence the building slowly subsiding over the years Area is also heavily laden with salt from nearby ocean which corrodes concrete and steel rebars

Also reported issues with pool over parking garage which causes additional loads on structure (water weigh 8.3 lbs /gallon)
Was reported that water from pool deck was seeping into parking garage

A report from 2018 has been released that warned of 'major damage' to concrete pillars in the building due to an lack of proper water drainage.

The building consultant's report from three years ago came to light in a series of documents made public by the town of Surfside.

The engineer, Frank Morabito, said the lack of proper drainage was "a systemic issue" that stemmed from a flaw "in the development of the original contract documents".

He flagged what he called "major structural damage" to the concrete platform beneath the swimming pool deck.

"The failed waterproofing is causing major structural damage to the concrete structural slab below these areas," he wrote. "Failure to replace the waterproofing in the near future will cause the extent of the concrete deterioration to expand exponentially."

The engineer also referred to "abundant cracking… of columns, beams and walls" in the parking garage.

His report didn't suggest the 40-year-old building was at any imminent risk of collapse but he urged that the concrete repairs be carried out in "a timely fashion".
www.bbc.co.uk...

Has there been any interviews of residents and what they felt from the section that is still standing and did not collapse?

Looks like it collapsed on top of itself just like the towers. hmmm I thought buildings don't do that unless they are imploded.


V

a reply to: usaman1983

I thought I saw a report of a resident talking to someone on the phone stating that they had a sinkhole show up where the pool used to be and then the phone went silent. I want to say it was on Telegram but can’t remember

a reply to: Charliebrowndog

From what I have heard and read, the pool was on top of the underground parking and an engineer stated that that area under the pool had concrete supports in bad shape. The pool may have fell into the underground parking area first but the pile of debris would probably have been not as high or had a hole in the middle if it was a sink hole.

a reply to: Variable
The supports seem to have been weakened by rusting rebar, cracking concrete and vibration from nearby construction. This took out the support columns just like an emplosion but without the explosives. There are no reports of explosions. This is the current working theory and nothing official yet.

Update on the numbers of victims.

5 confirmed dead
156 unaccounted for

This is according to Associated Press.

There are reports that the fires in the rubble are hindering rescue efforts.

This is more info than an earlier link I posted, as there was apparently repairs about to begin.
Did residents know about the repairs?
Did they know the dangers?
Where is the Condo Board in all of this? Have they issued any statement, or hired a law firm???

Engineer warned of ‘major structural damage’ years before Florida condo complex collapsed

His findings helped guide a multimillion-dollar refurbishment project that was set to begin soon. A lawyer who represents the resident-led association that operates the building told the Times that the repair process would have been handled much differently if there had been any indication that the corrosion — not uncommon in coastal buildings — posed a serious threat.

However, Eliana Salzhauer, a local commissioner, told the Times that the 2018 report was still “upsetting” because it shows that the condo board was aware that there were issues with the building.

According to the paper, residents had repeatedly reported issues that may have contributed to the structure’s failure. One tenant filed a lawsuit in 2015 alleging that poor maintenance had allowed water to enter her unit through cracks in an outside wall.

I’ve seen a few mentions about a pool sinking right before the collapse. I just saw it again on a YouTube comment, not sure where this person got the info though. it says ”guy that says he was on the phone with his wife and she saw the pool sinking and then a scream…..” here’s the video www.youtube.com... It’s not in the video, the video is about a good Samaritan that located the boy. And not to critique these brave responders or anything , but they’ve only pulled out one person alive who had to be found by someone they told to back off. I do hope they searched extensively in that part since this was obviously a good spot showing signs of life,

a reply to: violet

A woman stood on the balcony of her fourth-floor apartment as the Florida condominium collapsed told her husband on the phone that she could see the pool "caving in" seconds before the line went dead, Sky News reported.

Cassie Straton was speaking to her husband, Michael, from their balcony on the south side of the Champlain Towers when she noticed the building started shaking in the early hours of Thursday, her older sister Ashely Dean said.

"Suddenly she says, 'honey, the pool is caving in. The pool is sinking to the ground,'" Dean said, according to Sky News.

"He said, 'what are you talking about?' And she says, 'the ground is shaking, everything's shaking' and then she screamed a blood-curdling scream and the line went dead," Dean added.

Sky news

a reply to: St Udio

I just bet there was something under there, like a void of nothingness or pocket of water - aquifer.
The pool sinking prior to the collapse is quite telling imo

originally posted by: Variable
Looks like it collapsed on top of itself just like the towers. hmmm I thought buildings don't do that unless they are imploded.


V

You're right, buildings do not have global collapse unless they're imploded, and that's why they collapse within seconds, because they blast off internal supports in a very precise sequence, floor by floor, most commonly from the bottom floors upward, like with WTC 7, because it's the best, most efficient way to implode buildings. They couldn't start from the bottom floors for the twin towers, obviously, so they started it just below the supposed 'plane impact zones', but that's another issue.

Same result, different starting points, all within seconds, nice and neat!

Some people near the implosions in Florida said there was an overwhelming stench of sulfur afterwards. I suppose nobody there from FEMA, who've spent days rummaging through the debris, have smelled sulfur there at all, or they'd mention it, right? As if.

The stench of sulfur is clear evidence of explosives being used here. Explosives can smell of sulfur, and/or underground sewage with blockage can smell of sulfur too, so if it was from blocked sewage underground, the only way it would blast into the air, with such a stench, would be from explosives near the sewage pipes. Either way, it was from explosives. Nothing else could cause it.

Add the sulfur odor to instantaneous collapses of buildings, it's an open and shut case of implosions. Once again.


When they haven't even evacuated people from the only building still standing, it's obvious what is really their greatest concern - finding all the evidence of explosives in the debris, and getting rid of it right away. If they were so concerned with the health and safety of people, who are buried under the debris, and who are scared s^*tless in the intact building, they'd evacuate those in the building, and scoop through all the debris as fast as possible, as anyone would who desperately looked for loved ones after they were buried under snow, or whatever. That is what normal people would do, every single time. They tell us this BS about how they need to be very careful, and meticulous, sorting through tons of concrete and so forth, because they are concerned about their own safety, and the safety of anyone who may be alive under the debris. Are you serious? After 4 days, NOBODY would still be alive, and they've already spent 4 days beinf 'careful' not to cause harm to anyone whil might be alive under the debris! Don't worry, a-holes, you won't harm ANYONE in the debris, because if anyone WAS alive, they aren't alive NOW! What next, you need to be careful not to hurt yourself in the debris, while you're using cranes or heavy debris, and sort through little pieces on the top? What are you so afraid of here? What about the people you haven't evacuated from the only building left? Do you think THEY might have a little bit more to be scared of than YOU do? You're on top of the collapsed buildings, they're IN the only building left, so what would YOU think is scarier?

Meanwhile, the mayor says they are 'considering' if they should be evacuated, 4 days later!

Mayor Burkett said an evacuation would be “out of an abundance of caution,” to ensure the safety of the structure.

He's obviously very confident that the only building that didn't collapse, will NOT collapse, for some odd reason!

They claim to not yet know what caused these collapses, yet somehow seem to know that the only building still standing, is NOT going to collapse.....while the other two collapsed, one after the other, within seconds, just 4 days ago!

How can they all get away with this crap, this mass murder, once again? It's pure evil, and we shouldn't stand by and watch it go on, over and over again, but we need to organize ourselves, everyone of us, everywhere, to take back our country, or countries, from these slimebags. It's our divisions that prevent it from happening, and they know it, that's why they're always trying to 'divide and conquer' us with trivial BS, like Reps versus Dems, black vs, white, etc. They sell us this BS, we believe it, and fight their created battles, while they laugh at us for our ignorance and stupidity.

a reply to: turbonium1

Almost all city water in Floridia smells and tastes of sulfer. You can't get away form it. When pipes break it will smell.

The building still standing was evacuated first, on the night of the collapse. Did you miss the reports of the rescues from that building?

The mayor is not talking about the part of the collapsed building that is still standing but it's sister building made at the same time by the same builder to almost the same plans just down the road. They are checking it for possible problems and then are going over all highrises in the area just to be certain they are not showing the same signs of deteriation.

When the floors in a building go from about ten feet each to around 18 inches, it is not easy to rescue survivors and recover those that did not.

As an engineer has stated, the supports under the pool area were in bad shape years ago because of the pool deck area leaking, that is where the underground parking was. This may have weakened the support colums to the point where those and the rest of the colums in that part of the building could no longer support the weight. This is what happens in an emplosion but slower and without the expolsives.

As of now, there is no official cause of the collapse because the inventigation is ongoing while the rescue efforts continue.

a reply to: beyondknowledge

I'm sure the Mayor absolutely ISN'T talking about the part of the building which collapsed!!! That's the understatement of the Century right there!!! The Mayor is still trying to figure out how to defuse the 10,000 tons of TNT which is wired directly below his ASS...and set to go off at any second!! I'd put good money down on a bet that dude is sending out resume's to every remote island nation in the remotest parts of the South Pacific right about now!!

It's not gonna' be long before everyone starts asking questions like...

'Why didn't YOUR Building Department officials red-tag that building like 5 years ago???????'

and...

'Where are all the comprehensive engineering test studies and results documentation from the GPR and X-ray analysis that SURELY must have been performed on this structure following the discovery of serious structural problems???'

and...

'Why have all these mysterious monthly deposits from an anonymous property developer been showing up in your personal bank account for the past several years???'

a reply to: turbonium1

Dude, lemme' tell ya' something...The average swimming pool at a condo like that has about 36,300 gallons of water in it.

36,300 gallons of water weighs about 302,742 lbs., or 151+ TONS! It covers an area of about 22 feet x 44 feet with an average of 5.5 FEET of water. If you drop a 22 foot x 44 foot x 5 foot tall, 151 ton weight, 4 stories down, into a basement from a height of roughly 36 feet, the resulting impact is probably 100x greater than the explosive force of a controlled demolition!!

When you couple this impact with the fact that the water is constrained in a container at the beginning, and explodes outward in all directions after impact, destroying everything in its path (including support columns), you don't NEED a conspiracy theory like a 'controlled demolition' to speculate about what happened!!!

Seriously, stick to something you know, like flat Earth's, or God, or something!