Families of condo victims bond together

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — At the Seaview Hotel, a vast and once impersonal ballroom has become a refuge — a shared space of hope and sorrow where grieving families comfort each other during the agonizing wait for news of relatives trapped inside a collapsed Miami condo building.

Twice a day, every day, for more than two weeks, relatives of those who perished or who are still missing have huddled in the spacious room, a new daily routine thrust upon them by an unfathomable disaster.

On Saturday, authorities raised the confirmed death toll from the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium building in Surfside to 86, with 43 people still missing.

Many members of this tiny community forged in tragedy have started arriving to the meetings early and staying late. They linger in small groups, talking. They hug each other, bring each other water and tissues. On days when information is scarce, rescuers, including those from other countries, circulate through the room, offering more detailed tidbits.

Officials announced on Wednesday that they were switching their mission from rescue to recovery, but there is no plan to stop the private briefings for the families, said Maggie Castro, a Miami-Dade firefighter and paramedic who keeps relatives updated and has forged her own connections with them.

“Obviously, this is a huge tragedy, but if I can find some kind of bright spot in this whole thing, it’s to be with these families, watching their emotions come and go and … watching them evolve through their stages and then also watching them bond,” Castro said.

While sobs could be heard in the background Wednesday night as officials announced they would shift from rescue to recovery, largely dashing any hope of survivors, some families said they won’t feel different until they have final word on their loved ones.

Other families told rescuers they did feel a sense of finality once workers started searching for victims instead of survivors.