Another building evacuated, search on

Structurally, electrically unsafe

NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Florida, July 3, (AP): Residents of a Miami-area highrise loaded clothes and valuables into suitcases, laundry baskets and wagons and wheeled them to waiting cars after they were forced to evacuate the building when it was found to be unsafe in a review prompted by the deadly collapse of a building just a few miles away.

An audit prompted by the collapse of Champlain Towers South in nearby Surfside found that the 156-unit Crestview Towers in North Miami Beach, about 5 miles (8 kilometers) away, had been deemed structurally and electrically unsafe in January, the city said in a news release. Friday afternoon law enforcement authorities cordoned off the area and went door-to-door in the apartment building, telling residents they had to leave the 49-year-old structure.

Harold Dauphin was on his way home from picking up his son at camp Friday when he noticed a helicopter buzzing around his apartment and a heightened police presence. He wondered whether there had been a shooting nearby but then came home to find out that his building was being evacuated.

“They said the building is unsafe to live and it’s an immediate evacuation,” Dauphin said, speaking outside after he’d cleared out. He and his son live on the second floor. He said he hadn’t previously heard anything about the problems that the city mentioned in their news release. He grabbed what he could - clothes, his work uniform and some electronic devices - and the two left.

“It’s unfortunate, but I understand. Knowing what happened in Surfside, you know, it’s understandable,” he said.

It is the first building to be evacuated since municipal officials in South Florida, and statewide, began scrutinizing older high-rises in the wake of the Surfside collapse to ensure that substantial structural problems are not being ignored.

Bodies

Authorities in Surfside said four more bodies had been found in the rubble, including the 7-year-old daughter of a Miami firefighter, bringing the confirmed death toll to 22.

But there was also relief. Closer inspection of the missing persons list reduced the number from 145 to 126 after duplicate names were eliminated and some residents reported missing turned up safe, officials said.

“So this is very, very good news,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said. She said the numbers were expected to keep changing because detectives are continually reviewing the list and verifying reports.

The discovery of the girl’s remains was especially hard on rescuers, Levine Cava said.

“It was truly different and more difficult for our first responders. These men and woman are paying an enormous human toll each and every day, and I ask that all of you please keep them in your thoughts and prayers,” she said at a news conference.

Compounding the hardship, six firefighters from one of Florida’s search and rescue task forces have tested positive for COVID-19, Miami-Dade fire chief Alan Cominsky said. That team has been demobilized and the firefighters isolated.

“Unfortunately this is another challenge, but that’s something that we’ve been dealing with over the past year, Cominsky said.

The mayor also said she signed an emergency order to demolish the remaining part of the building once engineers have signed off on it. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Assistant Fire Chief Ray Jadallah told family members during a Saturday morning briefing that demolition could begin as soon as Sunday of the remaining portion of the condo complex.