According to the New York Times, three years before the fatal collapse of a condominium building in southern Florida, a consultant warned that there was evidence of “significant structural damage” to the concrete slab under the pool deck and the underground parking lot. There were a lot of cracks and collapses. Saturday morning.
In the early hours of Thursday morning, most of the 12-story building in Surfside, a suburb of Miami, Florida, suddenly collapsed while residents were still sleeping. The cause of the disaster is unclear.
Four people have been confirmed dead There are still 159 people unaccounted for, and search and rescue teams are working day and night in the unstable debris mountain. A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada told CBC News on Friday that preliminary reports indicate that at least four Canadian citizens “may be affected” by the Surfside collapse.
According to The Times, an October 2018 report by consultant engineer Frank Morabito helped develop a plan for a restoration project that will begin soon after the construction manager was warned for two and a half years.
The newspaper said that the management association of the complex had disclosed some problems after the collapse. But the Morabito report issued by Surfside officials late Friday clearly showed the full nature of the concrete and steel damage, it said. It said most of the damage may have been caused by years of exposure to the corrosive salt air along the coast of South Florida.
The Times stated that Morabito did not indicate in his report that the structure is at risk of collapse, but he pointed out that the required repairs will be aimed at “maintaining the structural integrity of the building and its 136 units.”
Watch | Dozens of people are missing after the apartment collapsed:
In a beachside community outside Miami, dozens of people are missing and at least one person died after a 12-story apartment building collapsed. 1:52
“Although some of the damage is minor, most of the concrete damage needs to be repaired in time,” Morabito was quoted by The Times as saying it was about damage near the bottom of the 40-year-old building.
The newspaper quoted Kenneth S. Direktor, an attorney representing the Resident Leadership Association that ran the building, as saying that repairs have already begun in accordance with the extensive plan drawn up this year.
The Times added that the directors stated that if the owners have any indication that corrosion and collapse are “relatively common in many coastal buildings” as a serious threat, then the process will be handled very differently.
