The Collapse of the Surfside Condominium

What We Know Today

In the middle of the night of June 24^th, the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida partially collapsed. As of midday on July 8^th - two weeks after the 13-story structure began to give way – the identified victim total is climbing, and search efforts have turned to recovery actions.

Interactive maps from the Washington Post show the collapse – that split the 04 units in half leaving one side of the complex standing and the other a pile of rubble – started from failures at the bottom and worked up. Along with the 04 units, the 01, 02, 03, 10, 11, and 12 units from all floors were among the subsiding section, with the 05, 06, 07, 08, and 09 units standing to allow for evacuation.

Causation

While the precise causation of the collapse may take years to investigate and go through many inevitable legal trials along with new evidence findings every day, today there are a few insights into how exactly this structure fell. Highlighted by the New York Times, a 2018 consultant report detailed structural damage to the building in areas like the balconies and the entrance ramp. The building was just beginning its inspection for the 40-year recertification over the last couple months and was set to undergo a multimillion-dollar repair project at the time of collapse. Water penetration damage and rebar corrosion are being looked at as the primary causes, but no conclusions can be drawn just yet.

Implications

Immediately following the event, Miami-Dade mayor, Daniella Levine Cava ordered an audit of all residential buildings that haven’t yet completed the recertification, with five or more stories, and older than 40 years. This audit is to be conducted over the next month with anything coming up to be repaired quickly. Like mentioned earlier, the details of the collapse will continue to be released, but there are already some hints to future changes to this type of structure and relating to the client fear this may produce.

There are reports of massive increases in memorandums and complaints to building owners being filed in the wake of this disaster as many people are riddled with anxiety about living in a structure like Champlain Towers South. The long-term economic impacts here could be severe for communities like Surfside. With long-term residents and seasonal tenants occupying units, there may be reason for them to look to sell although there would likely be low return-on-investment, and if people leave these situations in waves, community disinvestment will begin to set in. However, priorities in the process of inspection and repair are likely to happen, which could translate to reason to hold.

Today, the exact causation as to how the tower collapsed and the future outcomes to the high-rise condominium industry are both undetermined. With that, more news on this event will continue to be released in the coming months.

FEMA has set-up this fact sheet for any person needing assistance relating to this disaster.