Biden plans to meet with families, first responders at Fla. high-rise collapse
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden is going to Florida on Thursday, showing his concern for the community of Surfside, where 150 people remained unaccounted for Tuesday a week after a 12-story oceanside condo building partially collapsed.
Biden wants to thank first responders and others involved in looking for survivors.
He will also “meet with the families who have been forced to endure this terrible tragedy, waiting in anguish and heartbreak for word of their loved ones, to offer them comfort as searchand-rescue efforts continue,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.
After the residence pancaked last Thursday, the White House said Biden was waiting to travel until his visit wouldn’t interfere with rescue attempts. Eleven people were confirmed dead.
On Monday, Psaki said Biden believes the reasons for the collapse need to be investigated and various federal agencies are already providing expertise.
“Certainly we want to play any constructive role we can play with federal resources in getting to the bottom of it and preventing it from happening in the future,” she said.
Psaki said Tuesday the National Institute of Standards and Technology sent a team of scientists and engineers to gather information that will be used to determine if a full investigation will be conducted.
An engineering firm hired in 2018 found a “major error” in the design of the building and crumbling concrete columns in the garage area beneath the structure. It predicted that failure to fix the problems in the “near future will cause the extent of the concrete deterioration to expand exponentially.”
An April letter sent from the president of the Champlain Towers South Condominium Association said that damage to the doomed building’s basement garage had “gotten significantly worse.”
Biden last week declared a federal emergency in Florida, authorizing federal assistance to supplement state and local recovery efforts.
More than 50 federal personnel are on the ground, including building science experts, structural engineers and geotechnical experts, according to Psaki.