Miami building collapse: No more survivors found overnight as fire hinders rescue efforts

Fire is ‘hampering’ search efforts

Rescue crews and local authorities are currently battling a fire in the 12-storey Champlain Towers South building following its collapse on Thursday.

During a Saturday press conference, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava of Miami-Dade County revealed that a fire has “hampered” the rescue efforts by crew members.

She said that they were currently working to extinguish the flames while also “building a trench” in one location to continue to look for any survivors.

The smoke was the biggest factor impacting rescue teams at the moment.

No new suriviors found

Mayor Danielle Levine Cava said that the numbers remain the same as yesterday in the Surfside building collapse with 159 people still unaccounted for and four people confirmed dead.

Rescue teams were still working to locate those missing and Ms Cava said the situation remained a rescue effort.

“To the community and the world, please be patient. Please stand with us. Please continue your prayers. We are not going to stop. We need your support,” she added.

Sister building could face evacuations

There is a sister building to the 12-storey Champlain Towers South that was built at the same time with the same design with residents still currently living in it.

The city of Surfside, Florida, was now working to determine if that building was safe or faced the same problems that potentially caused the other building to collapse without warning on Thursday.

Governor Ron DeSantis, when asked during a Saturday press conference, said that evacuating the other building was up for consideration “given the similarities, given the same age”.

But he said that the decision would ultimately be up to Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett.

An announcement could come later on Saturday.

Structural field survey from 2018 warns of damage to the building

A structural field report of the Champlain Towers south building located in Southside, Florida, raised concerns about structural damage in the condominium.

In the report, the consultant noticed damage to a concrete slab below the pool deck, as well as “cracking and spalling” located in the parking garage.

“The failed waterproofing is causing major structural damage to the concrete structural slab below these areas. Failure to replace the waterproofing in the near future will cause the extent of the concrete deterioration to expand exponentially,” wrote consultant Frank Morabito in the October 2018 report.

He further noted that “the replacement of the existing deck waterproofing will be extremely expensive ... be disruptive and create a major disturbance to the occupants of this condominium building.”

The report set in place a multimillion-dollar repair project for the building, which was set to start soon – nearly three years after the report was released.

But then the building collapsed without warning in the middle of the night on Thursday.

The cause of the collapse was not yet known.

Governor shares how people can support the Surfside community

Governor Ron DeSantis has shared a link that people can use to donate to the Surfside community following the residential building collapse on Thursday.

Fire hindering rescue efforts as city considers evacuating sister building

A fire has hindered rescue efforts to the 159 unaccounted people from a Surfside residential building collapse, officials said.

"It's a very deep fire. It's extremely difficult to locate the source of the fire. So, they've been working around the clock, these fire rescue teams, these brave men and women, under the rubble to fix this problem so they can get on, but it is hampering our search efforts," said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levina Cava during a Saturday news conference.

The smoke has been the biggest hindrance to the rescue workers.

Officials are now working to locate and extinguish the fires while continuing to try and locate anyone who might be alive.

Full report here:

Mayor orders audit of other buildings in Miami-Dade

The collapse of the Champlain Towers South building has led to increased scrutiny over other buildings in the Miami-Dade area.

Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced a 30-day audit of all buildings 40 years and older on Saturday morning following the deadly collapse. This audit would be for all buildings under the county’s jurisdiction, which includes neighbouring towns like Miam and Surfside, where the building fell.

“We want to make sure that every building has completed their recertification process,” Ms Cava said during a news conference. “And we want to make sure to move quickly to remediate any issues that may have been identified in that process.”

The mayor went on to urge other Florida cities to perform a similar audit of their buildings.

This comes as the building already had scheduled repairs following a 2018 structural report. The repairs the building intended to make was part of a “recertification” every building in Miami-Dade County must go through every 40 years.

Officials have indicated that this building collapse could lead the county to pushing up its building reviews to once every 20 or 30 years instead of waiting until 40 years.

How to help victims and family of the Miami building collapse

Rescue workers have been working to find any survivors of the Champlain Towers South building, which has left at least 159 people unaccounted for, officials said.

Families and friends were left waiting to discover if their missing loved one will be found in the wreckage of the collapsed building.

Several organisations were working to assist with the victims and their families amid the devastation.

SupportSurfside.org was set up as a hardship fund in partnership with the Coral Gables Community Foundation, the Key Biscayne Community Foundation, The Miami Foundation and Miami Heat.

Additionally, the Miami Tragedy Central Emergency Fund was created to assist victims and their families.

The American Red Cross was working to help displaced residents from the building and buildings nearby find safe places to stay, while also providing emotional and spiritual support for those impacted.

Other organisations accepting donations that will go towards assisting those impacted include the World Health Kitchen, Greater Miami Jewish Federation, and Direct Relief.

Biden is receiving updates of Miami building collapse all weekend

President Joe Biden travelled to Camp David, where he will remain Saturday and Sunday with his family.

But White House officials said that the president was receiving updates all weekend regarding the Miami building collapse from his homeland security team.

Local, state, and federal officials have been working in collaboration to rescue anyone who might be trapped under the debris after the 12-storey condominium in Surfside, Florida, collapsed overnight on Thursday.

Mr Biden told aides that the federal government would provide Florida with any assistance it needs.

“There’s nothing worse than having to wait and wonder what happened,” Mr Biden said Friday. “It’s a tough, tough time. There’s so many people waiting. ‘Are they alive? Will they be – what will happen?’ And so, our heart goes out to them.”

The president had no immediate plans to travel to Surfside, Florida, at this time. This was because resources needed to handle a presidential visit were currently being used for the recovery efforts – something officials Mr Biden did not want to take away from at this time.

On Friday, Mr Biden signed a federal emergency relief declaration that freed up funding for Florida to use amid the crisis. He and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also spoke over the phone regarding the funding after the declaration was signed.

Smoke and debris pose serious health risks

The search has continued for the 159 people unaccounted for following the collapse of a Miami residential building, and officials have warned the debris and smoke poses serious health risks.

“The air quality is a concern,” said Alan Cominsky, the chief of Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue, during a Saturday news conference. “We still have ventilation fans that we have set up in specific areas, and we use them to the best that we can.”

Smoke and debris has become a problem in the area for both potential victims still alive in the rubble and residents living nearby.

Officials have asked residents to remain indoors or away from the area in the meantime.

“There are respiratory concerns,” said Erika Benitez, a spokeswoman for Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. “We ask people to stay indoors, and limit their exposure outside.”

Rescue teams were also battling fires spreading latterly through the structure.

Authorities were working to locate and extinguish the blaze while also attempting to locate any survivors from the building collapse.