Florida high-rise Condo partial collapse

[MightyGiants]

MG,

Thanks for the comments/info. Informative and helpful - appreciate it.

Tragically, I have to assume that most if not all of the missing have probably perished by now. If your were trapped after the collapse, even if you were not seriously injured in any way, you can't really go more than three days without water, and it's probably less than that in what I would assume to be pretty significant heat.

I agree, I have little hope they will find any survivors

[MightyGiants]

This is one of the better articles I have read


https://www.kake.com/story/44198811/as-engineers-hunt-for-answers-in-the-surfside-building-collapse-signs-point-to-the-buildings-lower-reaches

[DaveBrown74]

This is one of the better articles I have read


https://www.kake.com/story/44198811/as-engineers-hunt-for-answers-in-the-surfside-building-collapse-signs-point-to-the-buildings-lower-reaches

Very good article indeed. It seems pretty clear now that the primary (or at least one of the main) source of the collapse was at the base. This article definitely provides a lot more depth around the various theories.

[MightyGiants]

Very good article indeed. It seems pretty clear now that the primary (or at least one of the main) source of the collapse was at the base. This article definitely provides a lot more depth around the various theories.

My best GUESS at this point is that the foundation gave way.   I am thinking rising water tables washed away and softened the ground the piles had been driven into

[squibber]

My best GUESS at this point is that the foundation gave way.   I am thinking rising water tables washed away and softened the ground the piles had been driven into

I read an article that the long term prospects of this barrier island as well other barrier islands are not good in the long run due to the fact of rising sea levels and the fact the buildings were built on limestone. Limestone absorb water like a sponge. As the water table rises there will be damage to structures. There will be nothing you could do to stop the limestone from absorbing water. Building a barrier sea wall won

[LennG]

Hey, since climate change is a hoax, let's build a few more buildings there. 

[MightyGiants]

I understand they are going use explosives to bring down the rest of the building.   I have been reading that engineers are seeing less rebar than the drawings call for.  Not likely to take down the building alone, but likely one of the multiple factors that are responsible

[LennG]

Once they take down the rest of the building, search and rescue/recovery (whatever they still want to call it) will become a lot easier, as they were always in fear that the rest of the building might come down on top of the rescue workers.

[MightyGiants]

Florida Condo owners may be in a world of hurt moving forward

The partial collapse on June 24 of Champlain Towers South in Surfside has plunged older beachside condos and high-rise buildings like it into a swirl of uncertainty. Local government officials and condo associations are rushing inspections, some of them long overdue. Insurance companies are demanding proof that aging buildings have been evaluated or are threatening to cut off coverage.

And real estate agents across the region are bracing for how the disaster might ripple through an otherwise scorching housing market.

[MightyGiants]

They finally officially changed operations from rescue to recovery.   In my opinion, they should have made this switch a bit sooner.   I think they were giving the relatives of the victims false hope.  Plus, in rescue you might take risks that you simply wouldn't take with recovery

[DaveBrown74]

They finally officially changed operations from rescue to recovery.   In my opinion, they should have made this switch a bit sooner.   I think they were giving the relatives of the victims false hope.  Plus, in rescue you might take risks that you simply wouldn't take with recovery

I agree and have thought this myself. Without water you're looking at maybe a three day window, and I bet it's less that that in the South Florida heat. I suspect it dragged on for as long as it did due to the immense pressure from above to be seen to be doing absolutely everything possible to rescue any possible survivors, including running the effort much longer than they otherwise might with less spotlight on them.

That's not a good reason of course, but I suspect it was the reason.

Maybe they tacitly conduted operations in a way that didn't put the responders at quite as much personal risk as they would be if it were a true all-out effort.