On June 24th the condominium at Surfside Florida collapsed. A few people made it out but most were not that lucky.
Three years before this disaster the management knew that the condo was in serious trouble because of complaints by residents.
They ordered an early inspection in 2018. This inspection was showing a potential disaster. There was a mistake in the construction of the pool deck. Deterioration of concrete. The ceiling slabs of the parking garage showed large hairline cracks and the rebar was exposed. By 2021 it was much worse.
This was going to be expensive! I’ve seen reports of very heavy assessments for each condo owner. It’s almost like a second mortgage and many residents couldn’t afford it.
I see why the association kicked this can down the road. For all intensive purposes these people lost their homes.
Nobody though they would actually lose their lives. This kind of thing doesn’t happen in America! But we’re not immune!
Since then, Mayor Levine Cava asked for an audit of “all high-rise buildings older than 40 years or taller than five stories.” 1. The Crestview Towers, Condominium, with 156 unites just seven miles away was evacuated as being unsafe.
The sad thing is that it took this tragedy of human life and suffering to do what should have been done all along.
