The second building in Florida was evacuated after the death toll from the collapse of an apartment building rose to 22. Reuters

Author: Katanga Johnson and Francisco Alvarado

Surfside, Fla. (Reuters)-After the remains of four other victims were found in the rubble, an apartment complex in Florida collapsed, causing the death toll to rise to 22 last Friday. Local officials believe the second residence Evacuation was ordered after the district became unsafe. .

Arthur Sorey, the city manager of North Miami Beach, said that after engineers discovered serious concrete and electrical problems, all residents of the second building, Crestview Towers, were told to leave immediately.

Due to the approach of Hurricane Island, this action is considered urgent, and the hurricane is expected to hit Florida as early as Monday. He said the owner of the building has not yet started the mandatory safety re-certification process required 40 years after completion.

“This is definitely not an easy decision,” Solé said. “It’s the right thing to do this at these times. It’s uncertain what the storm will happen.”

The latest remains from the rubble left on the 12th floor of Champlain Tann in nearby Surfside left 126 people still missing and worried about their deaths. Since the first few hours after the partial collapse of the tower earlier on June 24, no survivors have been rescued from the rubble.

The Mayor of Miami-Dade, Daniela Levin Kava, told reporters that the number of missing persons on the missing list was 17 fewer than Thursday. She said the total number is “mobile” and is sometimes revised through the work of investigators.

Levin Kava said that she had signed a demolition order to demolish the remaining part of the tower because she was worried that the search and rescue work on-site would be in a dangerously unstable state for most of Thursday.

“It is important to note that we are still evaluating all possible impacts and determining the best timetable for actually starting the demolition,” she said.

On Friday, the operation was reduced to three of the nine grids drawn in the debris field.

Hurricane Island threat

Cruise also seeks to make progress before the expected arrival of Elsa, who strengthened to become the first hurricane of the 2021 season on Friday when she was churn in the Caribbean.

US National Weather Service meteorologist Robert Moleda told reporters that the storm may approach South Florida as early as Monday, and there may be tropical storm-strength winds on Sunday. Elsa’s predicted path is still uncertain.

Among the dead found in Surfside on Friday was the daughter of a firefighter. This is the third dead child found so far. The Mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, told the Miami Herald that the firefighters were at the rescue site but did not dig in the rubble.

The Herald said the man and his brother, also a firefighter, had been vigil at the scene since last week. According to the newspaper, when her body was taken away, about 200 police officers saluted her.

“Every victim we remove is very difficult,” said Alan Kominski, chief of the Miami-Dade County Fire Department. “What’s more important last night was when we took away a firefighter’s daughter. As firefighters, we do what we should do — it’s a calling. But it still has a price.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wrote on Twitter that more than 400 U.S. Army Reserve members from Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio and Virginia have arrived in Surfside to assist in this work.

Investigators have not yet determined what caused this 40-year-old apartment building to suddenly collapse into a pile, which may eventually become one of the deadliest building collapses in American history.

The 2018 engineering report prepared for the 40-year recertification process found structural flaws that are now the focus of investigations including grand jury exams.

USA Today quoted a 2020 document obtained from the victim’s family and reported that the company noticed “strange results” after testing the depth of the concrete slab under the pool. The paper stated that the document did not elaborate.

As recently as April, the chairman of the Apartment Association wrote to residents warning them that the engineer found that the main concrete damage around the bottom of the building had deteriorated significantly.

Several lawsuits have been filed against the board of directors of the association on behalf of survivors and victims.

In a statement on Friday, the board of directors-some of its members are still missing-said it would appoint an independent receiver to “supervise the law and claims process.”