Florida condo collapse

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Collapse Investigators: Columns Were Half Required Strength

Tests find flaws in some support posts in garage of Florida condominium tower

(Newser) - Federal investigators determining why a Florida condominium tower partially collapsed three years ago, killing 98 people, said Thursday there were many faulty support columns in the tenant garage below it and the adjoining pool deck. National Institute of Standards and Technology investigators told an advisory panel that tests show that...

Judge Finds 457 Claims in Condo Collapse to Be Bogus

Most filings sought about $50K of the $1.1B fund

(Newser) - Hundreds of bogus claims that sought a share of the $1.1 billion settlement in the deadly collapse of a Florida condominium building were ruled fraudulent and invalid by a judge Wednesday. More than 450 presumably false claims, most seeking about $50,000, were filed in the court settlement arising...

'Miracle Boy' in Florida Condo Collapse Tells His Story

Jonah Handler was integral to the negotiation of a $1.02B settlement

(Newser) - After they heard the boom at 1:15am on June 24, 2021, Jonah Handler and his mother, Stacie Dawn Fang, went out on their balcony to see if they could figure out where the noise had come from. They returned inside and sat on Jonah's bed in the ensuing...

Tentative Deal in Collapse of Condo Is for Nearly $1B

Florida lawsuit settlement awaits final approval

(Newser) - A nearly $1 billion tentative settlement has been reached in a class-action lawsuit brought by families of victims and survivors of last June's condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida, an attorney said Wednesday. Harley Tropin announced the $997 million settlement during a hearing before Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman....

Tentative Deal Has $83M for Economic Losses in Condo Collapse

Payments to victims' families would go beyond that

(Newser) - A tentative deal announced Friday would pay $83 million to people who suffered economic losses such as condominium units and personal property in the collapse of a Florida building that killed 98 people. The emerging agreement, yet to be formally reduced to writing, would set aside whatever amount above the...

Inspection Shuts Miami Landmark for Repairs
Miami Landmark
to Reopen After
Inspection
updated
Nov 21, 2021 1:35 PM CST

Miami Landmark to Reopen After Inspection

Dade County Courthouse was shut after condo tower collapsed

(Newser) - Update: The historic courthouse in downtown Miami is scheduled to reopen Dec. 6, now that an inspection ordered after the Surfside condo building collapse has been completed. An outside firm, EXP, issued an engineering report last month saying it discovered no structural problems involving steel columns in the Dade County...

Lawsuit: Work Next Door Caused Florida Condo to Fall

Defendant says the problems were all at Champlain Towers South

(Newser) - Construction of a luxury building next door triggered the collapse of a fragile Florida condominium that killed 98 people, a new lawsuit argues. The suit, filed on behalf of Champlain Towers South victims and family members, contends that work on the adjacent Eighty Seven Park tower damaged and destabilized a...

After Surfside Condo Collapse, an 'Abhorrent' Alleged Crime

3 are charged with stealing the identities of 7 victims following shopping sprees

(Newser) - Two women and a man allegedly stole the identities of seven victims of the condominium collapse in Surfside, Fla. , in the days after the tragedy and spent thousands of dollars on shoes and a Versace purse. Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle described the suspects—Betsy Alexandra Cacho-Medina, 30; her...

Video Shows 'Astronomical' Corrosion in Collapsed Condo

New investigation begins at Surfside site

(Newser) - Video released by federal investigators shows more evidence of extensive corrosion and overcrowded concrete reinforcement in a Miami-area condominium that collapsed in June, killing 98 people. The video from the National Institute of Standards and Technology shows densely packed steel reinforcement in various sections of the building, along with extensive...

Remains of Final Victim of Condo Collapse Identified

Estelle Hedaya is disaster's 98th victim

(Newser) - Two days after firefighters' search for bodies at the site of the Surfside condo collapse officially ended , the remains of the disaster's final victim have been identified. Ikey Hedaya tells CBS Miami he was notified by police Monday that the remains of his older sister, 54-year-old Estelle Hedaya, had...

Ceremony Ends Firefighters' Search
Ceremony Ends
Firefighters' Search
Jul 23, 2021 4:15 PM CDT

Ceremony Ends Firefighters' Search

Crews rejoin their families after camping at the site of the collapsed condo building

(Newser) - Firefighters on Friday declared the end of their search for bodies at the site of a collapsed Florida condo building, concluding a month of painstaking work removing layers of dangerous debris that were once piled several stories high. The June 24 collapse at the oceanside Champlain Towers South in Surfside...

Judge: Condo Collapse Survivors Won't Be Asked to Donate Property

Surviving owners are split on future of Surfside site

(Newser) - There have been calls to turn the site of one of the deadliest building collapses in US history into a memorial, but the judge overseeing lawsuits in the Surfside condo collapse says survivors and the families of victims will not be asked to donate their property. "These victims who...

Florida Recovery Effort Winds Down
Surfside Recovery Nears End
Jul 15, 2021 4:35 PM CDT

Surfside Recovery Nears End

Judge OKs sale of Champlain Towers South site

(Newser) - The recovery efforts at the site of a South Florida condo building that collapsed last month might be coming to an end soon. Miami-Dade County police identified four more victims of the Surfside condo collapse Thursday, meaning that 90 of the 97 confirmed dead have been identified as the recovery...

Concrete Concerns Lead to Miami Building's Evacuation

Deterioration sparked worry three weeks after nearby condo building's collapse

(Newser) - Residents of an 82-year-old, two-story apartment building in Miami Beach have been ordered to evacuate because of concrete deterioration nearly three weeks after the deadly collapse of Champlain Towers South in nearby Surfside. The city of Miami Beach ordered the evacuation of Devon Apartments on Monday and is giving residents...

Binx the Cat Found 16 Days After Surfside Condo Collapse

'A small piece of good news': Kitty has been reunited with family

(Newser) - In what WSVN calls a "miracle" for one of the families affected by the tragedy in Surfside, Fla., a cat that lived in Champlain Towers South has been found alive, more than two weeks after the condo collapsed. "After 16 long and extremely difficult days, I'm happy...

Florida's Waterfront May Change After Condo Collapse

Developers may buy up older buildings and put up new ones for richer residents

(Newser) - It could take some time to play out, but the collapse of the Surfside condo could fundamentally change the waterfront real estate market not only in the Miami area but throughout Florida and perhaps elsewhere in the country. This is a "real come to Jesus moment," Ana Bozovic,...

Surfside Mission Changes at Midnight
Surfside Mission 
Changed at Midnight
UPDATED
Jul 8, 2021 12:17 AM CDT

Surfside Mission Changed at Midnight

Families are told of the switch from rescue to recovery

(Newser) - On the 14th day of their search for survivors in the Florida condo collapse, rescuers conceded that they wouldn't find anyone alive in the rubble. And so at midnight, the crews' mission at the Surfside site transitioned from rescue to recovery. The AP reports a "somber moment of...

Sisters Killed in Condo Collapse Placed in Same Coffin

They were buried alongside parents Marcus and Anaely Guara Tuesday

(Newser) - The bodies of two young sisters pulled from the rubble of a Florida condo building—so tiny that the 4- and 10-year-olds were placed in the same casket—were buried alongside parents Marcus and Anaely Guara Tuesday, their white coffin draped with pink and purple ribbons. Lucia Guara, also known...

Condo Searchers Carry On Through Rain, Wind

4 more bodies found, bringing total to 32

(Newser) - The discovery of four more victims in the rubble of a collapsed Florida condominium building raised the death toll to 32, officials said Tuesday as a ramped-up search effort faced new threats from severe weather with Tropical Storm Elsa. Lightning forced rescuers to pause their work for two hours early...

Condo Collapse Puts Spotlight on SF's Leaning Tower

Engineer says building is safe amid repairs

(Newser) - The deadly collapse of the condo building in Surfside, Fla., has some fearing a similar disaster in San Francisco, where the tilting 58-story Millennium Tower is still without a fix. The city's tallest residential building has sunk 18 inches and leaned several inches, prompting cracks in the foundation and...

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