The Commercial Appeal

$150M initially for victims in Florida condo collapse

- Curt Anderson and Kelli Kennedy

As the remaining rubble from the collapse of a 12-story oceanfront condominiu­m was cleared away Wednesday, a Florida judge said victims and families who suffered losses will get a minimum of $150 million in compensati­on initially.

That sum includes about $50 million in insurance on the Champlain Towers South building and at least $10 million in proceeds from the sale of the Surfside property where the structure once stood, Miami-dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman said at a hearing.

“The court’s concern has always been the victims here,” the judge said, adding that the group includes visitors and renters, not just condo owners. “Their rights will be protected.”

The $150 million does not count any proceeds from the numerous lawsuits already filed since the June 24 collapse, which killed at least 97 people. Those lawsuits are being consolidat­ed into a single class action that would cover all victims and family members if they choose, the judge said.

“I have no doubt, no stone will be left unturned,” Hanzman said of the lawsuits.

So, far 97 victims have been identified, many from using DNA analysis.

Officials have not yet announced an end to the recovery effort.

The site of the tragedy has mostly been cleared away with the debris relocated to an evidentiar­y collection site near the airport where a thorough search will continue “with enormous care and diligence,” said Miami-dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.

She spoke about the difficulties of the search in a statement. “The enormous pressure of the weight of the collapse and the passage of time also make it more challengin­g,” she said, stressing that workers were still carefully combing through the rubble for the remaining victims as well as personal property and religious artifacts.

On Wednesday, police said 24-yearold Anastasia Gromova and Linda March, 58, were identified.

Gromova, a Canadian from Montreal, had just been accepted to a program teaching English in Japan and was visiting the condo for one last hurrah with friend Michelle Pazos. Gromova’s body was recovered three days ago and was one of the last to be identified.

March’s body was recovered July 5, police said. Earlier this year, the successful attorney rented the furnished penthouse where pictures of white bunk beds hanging precarious­ly close to the sheered off building made national headlines.

The rubble that will be key evidence is being stored in a Miami-area warehouse, with the rest in nearby vacant lots, said the receiver, attorney Michael Goldberg. All of that will be preserved as possible evidence for the lawsuits and for other experts to review, he said.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is leading a federal probe into the collapse, according to a receiver handling the finances on behalf of the condominiu­m board.

“It may take years for their report to become public,” Goldberg said of the NIST probe.

The building was just undergoing its 40-year recertification process when it collapsed. That came three years after an engineer warned of serious structural issues needing immediate attention. Most of the concrete repair and other work had yet to be started.

There remain differences of opinion among condo owners about what to do with the site. Some want the entire condo rebuilt so they can move back in. Others say it should be left as a memorial site to honor those who died. A third suggestion is to combine both.

Owner Raysa Rodriguez, whose unit was on the ninth floor, said she couldn’t imagine going back into a building in a place where so many friends died.

“I personally would never set foot in a building. That’s a gravesite,” Rodriguez told the judge.

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