Ad Feedback
By Madeline Holcombe, CNN
4 minute read
Published 2:58 AM EDT, Thu July 22, 2021
Video Ad Feedback
Condo owners across country feel uneasy after Surfside collapse
04:37 - Source: CNN
CNN —
As the search winds down and the survivors of the Surfside condo building collapse begin to pick up the pieces of their lives, a judge said Wednesday they and the families of the deceased will not be asked to donate their property.
“These victims who have lost their homes, their personal belongings, and in many cases their lives are not going to be sacrificing the value of their real estate for the public good,” said Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman, who is overseeing the civil lawsuits.
Hanzman said during a status hearing Wednesday that he has heard comments suggesting the site of the collapse should be turned into a memorial and victims asked to donate their real estate. But, he said, his job is to ensure the victims get what they are entitled to.
“Regardless of the views of some people who are not victims, this court’s task and your task is to compensate the victims of this tragedy, period,” Hanzman told attorneys at the hearing.
Part of the Champlain Towers South collapsed in the early morning hours of June 24, while many of the residents were sleeping. Some residents described the terror of feeling the rumbling and seeing the cracks in the walls. Others did not make it out.
In the weeks since, more than 22 million pounds of debris have been removed and 97 bodies have been recovered.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman listens as tenants share their thoughts regarding the future of the site of the Champlain Towers South building that collapsed in Surfside.
97th victim identified
According to an update Wednesday from Miami-Dade County, the 97 victims have been identified, including 96 who were recovered from the collapse site and one victim who passed away in the hospital.
“The first responders are now conducting additional searches of the debris at the collection site, as we continue to do everything we can to search as thoroughly as possible for any remains to bring closure to families,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a statement.
“We are continuing to search with enormous care and diligence and to work closely hand-in-hand with faith leaders as we have since the beginning of this process,” she added.
The 97th victim was identified as 58-year-old Linda March. The county said it believes there is still one victim not yet identified.
March had left New York City and rented a penthouse in the building in March, just three months before the collapse, her friend Cindy Hinton told CNN.
“Linda saw the pictures. She absolutely fell in love with it,” Hinton said. “It was the penthouse level. It had balconies, it had a view of the water. And it was, you know, a building that had everything she wanted. So she was really, really excited about moving there.”
Images of her home haunted the aftermath of the collapse, as the wall sheared off to show bunk beds teetering off the edge of the top floor.
After the collapse, Hinton compared the return address on the birthday card Linda had recently sent her to the address of the building plastered on the news.
Her heart sank when they matched, she said. “We just didn’t know what to do. We’re like, we felt so helpless,” Hinton said.
Excavators dig through the remains from the Champlain Towers South building on July 9.
Wooden hearts with victims' names have been put up at the memorial site near the building's remains.
Nuns from the St. Joseph's Catholic Church pray at the memorial site on July 7.
A member of a search team moves rubble at the site on July 7. Authorities transitioned from search and rescue to search and recovery after determining "the viability of life in the rubble" was low, Miami-Dade County Fire Chief Alan Cominsky said.
Workers gather for a moment of silence and prayer after it was announced that rescue efforts would transition to a recovery operation.
A member of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue hugs victims' family members and friends at the memorial near the collapsed building.
Crews work at the site of the collapsed building on July 6.
Members of a search-and-rescue team comb through the debris on July 5.
A memorial is seen near the spot where the building used to be. The rest of the building was demolished on July 4 so that authorities could continue to look for survivors safely, officials said.
A controlled explosion brings down the unstable remains of the building on July 4.
A woman cries as she watches the rest of Champlain Towers South be demolished.
People watch a cloud of dust form as the rest of the building is demolished.
Karol Casper places a flower on the memorial wall set up near the building.
People stop at a makeshift memorial near the site.
Search-and-rescue personnel work at the site on July 2.
Residents of the Crestview Towers Condominium carry their belongings as they leave their building in North Miami Beach, Florida, on July 2. The building, about 6 miles from Surfside, was deemed to be structurally and electrically unsafe based on a delinquent recertification report for the almost 50-year-old building. The city said the move was out of an "abundance of caution," as area authorities check high-rise condo buildings following the Surfside collapse.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visit a memorial near the partially collapsed building on July 1. Biden traveled to Surfside to console families still waiting on news of their loved ones. Those meetings were closed to the press.
A Coast Guard boat patrols the water ahead of Biden's visit.
NBA basketball player Udonis Haslem, left, and Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava arrive to pay their respects at a memorial near the building on June 30.
Search-and-rescue teams look through the rubble of Champlain Towers South on June 29.
People take part in a twilight vigil near the building on June 28.
More than 3 million pounds of concrete have already been removed during the rescue operation, said Miami-Dade Fire Chief Alan Cominsky.
A woman puts flowers in a barricade as she pays her respects near the building.
Passersbylook at photos of missing people.
Workers search through the rubble on June 26.
Eliagne Sanchez and K. Parker lay flowers on the beach near the partially collapsed building.
Smoke rises as rescuers continued to search for survivors on June 26.
People stand near the building on June 25.
Mourners light candles on the beach near the building.
Members of a search-and-rescue team work in the rubble.
People pray together on the beach near the collapsed building.
Firefighters battle a blaze at the collapse site.
People hug June 25 as they wait for news about their relatives at a community center in Surfside.
Rescue personnel search through the building's rubble on June 25.
Toby Fried holds up a picture of her missing brother, Chaim Rosenberg, outside the Surfside Community Center on June 25.
Rescue workers use a crane to inspect the damage.
Ariana Hevia, center, stands with Sean Wilt near the partially collapsed building on June 25. Hevia's mother, Cassandra Statton, lives in the building.
Rescue workers arrive to the scene with dogs on June 25.
Faydah Bushnaq, center, is hugged by Maria Fernanda Martinez as they stand on the beach near the building. Bushnaq, who was vacationing in South Florida, stopped to write "pray for their souls" in the sand.
The arm of an earth mover is seen during the search operations.
Rescue personnel work at the site on June 24.
Yube Pettingill talks to the media. Two of her family members were still missing.
This photo was tweeted by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue after the building collapsed.
Displaced residents are taken to a nearby hotel in Surfside.
The partial collapse left huge piles of rubble and materials dangling from what remained of the structure.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, at center in the red tie, arrives to speak to the media on June 24. "We still have hope to be able to identify additional survivors," DeSantis told reporters near the scene. "The state of Florida, we're offering any assistance that we can."
Debris dangles from the building on June 24.
People hug at a family reunification center where evacuees were staying in Surfside.
The cause of the collapse wasn't immediately known.
Jennifer Carr sits with her daughter as they and other evacuees wait for news at the family reunification center in Surfside.
Rescue personnel search through the rubble with dogs.
Police stand guard on the day the building collapsed.
People on the beach look at the building after the partial collapse.
The building was constructed in 1981, according to online Miami-Dade property records.
People lie on cots at the family reunification center in Surfside.
The beachfront community is a few miles north of Miami Beach.
More than 80 rescue units responded to the scene, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said.
Rescue personnel work at the site of the partial collapse.
In pictures: Deadly condo collapse near Miami
Investigations waiting to ramp up
Once the search has officially ended, an investigation into what caused the collapse can fully begin, experts said.
“Until they do their job, we can’t go in to do samples of materials and take those samples and test them to understand what the various components of the building that came down was,” structural engineer Allyn Kilsheimer told CNN’s Ana Cabrera.
The first night that he was on the scene, Kilsheimer, who also investigated the aftermath of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, said he had about 20 or 30 theories of possible triggers.
Since then, he eliminated some but added five or six more, he said, but won’t be able to narrow it down while the search continues.
Florida State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle has acknowledged “multiple requests by engineers and attorneys” to gain access to the site.
“Engineers from the federal agency National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) were deployed to Surfside with Congressional authority to gather evidence and determine how and why the Champlain South Tower collapsed. NIST is the fact-finding agency responsible for investigating building collapses such as the World Trade Center, much like the NTSB investigates plane crashes,” Rundle said in a statement.
“It is my understanding that once NIST, the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and Miami-Dade Police Departments determine that it is safe and appropriate for others to gain access to the site, they will be permitted to do so under guidelines set forth by those agencies,” Rundle said.
CNN’s Randi Kaye, Travis Caldwell, Rosa Flores, Rebekah Riess, Leyla Santiago, Claudia Dominguez and Tina Burnside contributed to this report.
Ad Feedback
Ad Feedback
Ad Feedback
Ad Feedback
