Developers of doomed Miami condo tower were previously accused of PAYING OFF officials to get permits as Miami urges inspections of all buildings more than 40 years old and taller than six stories within 45 days

The 12-story Miami condo had been flagged for 'major structural damage' to the pool deck area and underground parking garage in a damning report almost three years before it collapsed early Thursday, killing at least four and leaving 159 still missing.

A consultant engineer warned back in October 2018 that the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside, Miami Beach, was in need of numerous repairs around the base of the structure 'in a timely fashion.'

The structural field survey report specifically raised concerns about the pool deck area, in which the waterproofing was failing, and the underground parking garage which was riddled with 'abundant' cracking.

Despite the apparent urgency of some of the recommendations, an attorney for the resident-led condo association told the New York Times this week that repairs were only about to begin - more than two and a half years after the inspection.

The alarming report was released by officials overnight Friday on the Surfside, Florida town website as questions continue to swirl over what caused the 1980s condo tower to suddenly collapse and whether the tragedy could have been avoided.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has vowed to 'get to the bottom of what happened' while local officials called for the evacuation of residents living in the block's sister building.

Now, more than 48 hours on from Thursday's early morning disaster, hope is fading for the 159 people still unaccounted for, with no survivors or victims located during Friday's painstaking 'needle in a haystack search.'

The search and rescue mission has been increasingly hampered by raging fires burning beneath the surface of the rubble, sending thick smoke into the air, officials said in a Saturday morning press conference.

Firefighters have been unable to locate the source of the fire and have taken to digging a trench in the rubble away from the flames that rescue teams can safely search for victims and survivors around.

An alarming report released by officials overnight Friday reveals an engineer warned about structural issues on the condo tower three years before it collapsed

Workers search in the rubble at the Champlain Towers South Condo Saturday morning as hopes fade of finding people alive

Rescue teams have been hampered by raging fires beneath the surface of the rubble which they cannot find the source of

Crews on Saturday continue to search for survivors marking the third day rescue teams have worked round the clock

The release of the alarming report comes as:

Consultant Frank Morabito carried out the inspection to assess the overall condition of the building and recommend any structural issues in need of repair, as the building neared its 40-year standing and in turn its need for recertification under local regulation.

In the report, he warned that the 'main issue' was the pool deck and entrance drive area, where condo residents would enjoy the Miami sunshine by the pool.

Morabito wrote that the waterproofing below the pool deck and entrance drive was failing' and 'beyond its useful life and therefore must all be completely removed and replaced.'

The report warned that the failed waterproofing was 'causing major structural damage to the concrete structural slab below these areas.'

'Failure to replace the waterproofing in the near future will cause the extent of the concrete deterioration to expand exponentially,' it read.

Morabito wrote that there had been a 'major error' in the original design of that area because the waterproofing was laid on a concrete slab that was flat, rather than sloped to allow water to run off.

The engineering firm released a statement Saturday confirming that it completed the report in 2018 that 'detailed significant cracks and breaks in the concrete' of the building and gave a cost estimate to make the fixes.

The condo board hired the company also in 2020, the company said in its statement, to complete a plan for its 40-year certification.

'We are deeply troubled by this building collapse and are working closely with the investigating authorities to understand why the structure failed,' the statement said. 'As we do so, we also continue to pray for all those impacted by this tragic event.'

The report recommended a list of repairs to the area including repairs to the concrete structure, 'installing a new waterproofing membrane, protection board and drain panels on the new sloped surface' among other changes.

The parking garage, some of which lay beneath the pool area, had 'abundant cracking and spalling', the report found (see pictures contained in the report above)

The report also found previous repairs to the garage were 'failing' (pictures from the report above). The underground parking garage was partly beneath the pool area, where the report found waterproofing was failing

These changes would provide 'extra protection for the existing reinforced concrete structure and allows future membrane repair/replacement to be completed more economically.'

In the underground parking garage, which sits partly beneath the pool deck, the report warned of 'signs of distress and fatigue' and 'abundant cracking and spalling.

'Abundant cracking and spalling of varying degrees was observed in the concrete columns, beams, and walls,' Morabito wrote.

'Several sizeable spalls were noted in both the topside of the entrance drive ramp and underside of the pool/ entrance drive/ planter slabs, which included instances with exposed, deteriorating rebar.

Spalling refers to areas of concrete cracking or crumbling.

The report also found that 'many of the previous garage concrete repairs' were 'failing' and 'ineffective.'

Under the area beneath the pool deck in particular, the report noted that 'new cracks were radiating from the originally repaired cracks.'

Morabito recommended that the entrance and pool deck area concrete slabs showing distress 'be removed and replaced in their entirety.'

While the engineer wrote that 'some of this damage is minor, most of the concrete deterioration needs to be repaired in a timely fashion.

The report also lists a series of other issues including cracks in the concrete on balconies, water seeping through windows and balcony doors into the condos and 'minor cracking' in the roof.

The report does not warn that the building was at risk of collapse but states that the repairs would help in 'maintaining the structural integrity' of the building.

Photos of the damaged areas were included in the report. This week, the same areas of the building were seen looking unrecognizable, as rescue crews combed through the rubble looking for survivors.

Firefighters were seen wading through deep water in the parking garage during the search - in the area where several repairs were recommended almost three years earlier.

Condo association attorney Kenneth Direktor told the Times the repairs 'were just about to get started' when the building collapsed.

A permit for repairs to the roof was issued by the town just hours before the tragedy at around 1:30am Thursday.

Surfside issued the permit to 'install roof safety anchors and provide stucco repairs' and replace the existing roof on Wednesday.

Two other permits were also issued for electrical repair and roof repair on the building last month. It is not clear whether any of the repairs were yet underway.

Several other issues including cracking was detailed in the report. Despite the apparent urgency of some of the recommendations, repairs were only about to begin - more than two and a half years after the inspection

When asked about the report in Saturday's press conference, Mayor Cava said officials were 'interested in all the evidence that comes to light' and said she had not been aware of the report.

She said the priority was on making sure 'other buildings are safe' in the area and announced she was ordering a county audit of all buildings 40 years old or older to be completed within the next 30 days.

The audit will ensure that every building has completed its recertification process and remediated any issues, she said.

Cava said she did not have numbers on how many buildings in the county would fall under the audit but said she knew of 'one other building by this developer up the street' - the sister building one block away.

She urged cities in the area to join her in carrying out such an audit.

Cava told CNN 'are going to get to the bottom of what happened at this particular building'.

'Clearly, our buildings need to be structurally sound. We need to have regular reviews, and to the extent that we need to change laws, we will change laws, and we will make sure these things do not happen in the future,' she said.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the search and rescue mission has been increasingly hampered by raging fires burning beneath the surface of the rubble

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis joined Saturday's press conference where officials confirmed no further victims or survivors had been found in the rubble

The side of the partially collapsed building is seen exposed Saturday as the search enters its third day in Surfside

Workers continue to comb the rubble as officials insist it remains a rescue mission despite 24 hours passing since the last person was found

Officials on Saturday said rescue teams had faced extremely challenging circumstances as they battled fires beneath rubble

Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said it's still 'unclear what steps the building was taking to address those cracks' warned about in the report.

He told the network he was yet to read the report but was going to get a copy that morning so he could 'give out accurate information regarding that.'

'I understand from our building official, that it was in the form of the 2018 email that came from an engineer regarding those cracks,' he said, adding it's 'unclear right now exactly what was going on in that building.'

The condo tower was due to have its safety recertified for the first time in 40 years this year and had recently undergone construction work on its roof.

It also emerged this week that a scientist had warned in a 2020 report that the development was sinking due to its position on reclaimed marshlands.

A team of federal experts was drafted in Friday to help state and local officials determine the cause of the collapse and Surfside Town Manager Andy Hyatt said the town had 'engaged a structural engineer to inspect other buildings in Surfside.'

But while officials are urging the public not to jump to conclusions, Surfside Mayor Burkett is urging residents of the sister building Champlain Towers North to evacuate out of 'an abundance of caution' as he admitted he 'can't tell them it is safe.'

Firefighters were seen wading through water in the parking garage remains on Thursday as they hunted for survivors

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava vowed to 'get to the bottom of what happened' while local officials called for the evacuation of residents living in the block's sister building

Rescue teams comb through the rubble Friday for survivors and victims of the tragedy with 159 still missing more than 48 hours on

The North tower is located around a block away from the South tower. It also has 12 stories, was built in 1981 by the same developers.

'I don't think people need to live with the possibility, or the thought that their' building may collapse, he told CNN.

'It had the same developer, it probably had the same materials, they probably had the same plans, and people are asking me is the building safe, and I can't tell them it is safe.'

Burkett on Friday told WSVN he would be recommending people leave the building.

While questions are mounting over the cause of the collapse, the search entered its third day Saturday, with hopes of finding more people alive fading by the hour.

No more survivors or victims have been found in more than 24 hours - since overnight Thursday - and rescue teams are now battling with a deep fire beneath the rubble.

Mayor Cava gave the grave update Saturday morning: 'The numbers are the same as they were yesterday.'

'We're facing incredible difficulties with this fire,' she said.

'The fire has been going on. It's a very deep fire and it is incredibly difficult to locate the source of the fire.'

Cava said the 'brave' fire and rescue teams have been 'working round the clock' in the hunt for survivors and victims but the fire has been 'hampering' efforts.

Rescue crews are using infrared technology, foam, water and other tactics to try to reduce the fire and the smoke but, the mayor said, 'it's very difficult to isolate the source of the fire and therefore stop it.'

Teams had to stop the search at one point to build a trench in the rubble from which they can safely search for survivors and victims from.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said at a press conference Saturday morning that raging fires beneath the surface of the rubble have hampered the search for survivors and victims, leaving rescue teams grappling with 'very challenging circumstances.'

'The fire department has been fighting these fires all night,' he said.

The fires are 'smoldering' and the smoke in the air is now 'very thick' which has 'obviously created quite an obstacle' to carrying out the search, he said.

Despite the lack of news around the 159 people trapped, officials insisted it is still a rescue mission at this time.

Rescue teams work in the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo tower building Friday but find no survivors

The view of the tower as seen from the beach. The tower partially collapsed in the early hours of Thursday morning

Fire and rescue crews have worked round the clock searching for survivors as hopes fade for the missing 159 people

While questions are mounting over the cause of the collapse, the search entered its third day Saturday, with hopes of finding more people alive fading by the hour

A rescue worker trying to find survivors in the rubble said Friday that the tapping sounds heard Thursday in the wreckage had 'dissipated'.

Dr. Howard Lieberman, a trauma surgeon with the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue task force, told CNN that rescue crews heard 'some tapping' yesterday - or noise indicating that some of the victims may still be alive.

Rescue crews 'did hear some tapping - there was some noise,' he said.

But he said that the tapping had 'dissipated' by Friday. Still, he said, crews hadn't given up hope.

'We haven't really heard anything in a while now, but that's not to say that there's still not people trapped that are alive,' he told CNN's Sanjay Gupta. 'As time's running out they might be getting a little more sick or ill – not as vocal as before – but, like I said, we're going to keep searching.'

Rescuers wouldn't stop until 'every stone is removed,' he said.

'I think these guys, you know, that's their mindset also: They're just going to keep going, keep going, keep going until, like I said, every stone is turned over and all the rubble is removed,' Lieberman said.

He added: 'We're seeing stuffed animals, teddy bears, boxed of diapers, a child's bunk bed, and we're finding a lot of pictures, family pictures.'

'It's a little bit more emotional than going somewhere, where you know there's no one, let's say for a hurricane where they had enough warning and they had evacuation time and they got out.'

Dr. Howard Lieberman, a trauma surgeon with a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue task force, told CNN that rescue crews heard 'some tapping' yesterday that has since dissipated

Firefighters spayed the rubble of the disaster on Friday where small fires and smoldering rubble still could be seen

Searchers climbed through the rubble in hopes of finding air pockets that would have allowed people to survive

The half of the building closest to the ocean collapsed into rubble around 130 am Thursday; rescuers have been searching frantically for survivors since

Zulema Perez prays in front of the memorial for victims of a partially collapsed residential building as the emergency crews continue search and rescue operations for survivors

A man hangs a photo on a fence of someone missing near the site of an oceanfront condo building that partially collapsed in Surfside

People hang up more signs of missing residents and light candles from the partial collapse in Surfside where the rescue personnel continue their search for victims nearly 48 hours after the collapse

Isabella Cisternino, Camila Giron-Otano and Isabela Giron-Otano, from left to right, light candles in the sand near where search and rescue operations continue at the site of the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building

Hero mom saves daughter, 16, in condo collapse despite suffering a broken pelvis when they plunged four floors - but husband remains among the missing

A hero mom saved her 16-year-old daughter's life by dragging them both from the rubble to safety, despite having suffered a broken pelvis in the Miami condo collapse.

Angela Gonzalez and daughter Devon plunged four stories from the ninth floor to the fifth floor when the 12-story Champlain Towers South Condo collapsed in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Angelo broke her pelvis in the fall but managed to pull herself and Devon from the rubble, reported CBS Local.

The mother and daughter are now recovering in Jackson Memorial Hospital.

However, Angela's husband and Devon's dad Edgar Gonzalez remains among the 159 people still missing, around 36 hours on from the disaster.

A family friend told CBS Local said they were hoping for the best that he would be found alive.

'Hope for the best. Everybody just give prayers. Everybody else's families or any colleagues or friends that were in the incidents, I wish you prayers, thoughts… And I hope everybody gets well,' Lisa Melencial said from the hospital.

She added: 'Pick up the pieces, trying to figure out how to make this work, how to make this better than what it is... Even though it's a tragic scenario. I just want prayers and just the best for her and her family.'

Devon Gonzalez, 16, was pulled from the rubble by her mom

However, Dave Downey - a retired Miami-Dade fire chief - told CBS News that rescuers are 'essentially looking for needles in a haystack.'

'While this building came down relatively straight, they're not — victims and survivors are not going to be located in the exact area where the building used to stand,' he said.

Mayor Cava said at a news conference on Friday night that rescue efforts will continue through the night as 159 people still remain unaccounted for after the collapse.

'We're going to have more resources to pay for this expensive search and rescue and to give us access to more teams for the rescue later, for the clearance of the rubble and for the assistance for the families, as they put their lives back together,' Cava said.

She added: 'We're here, we'll continue, and please stand by us. Stand by us, as we stand by the families.'

Cava told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that she continues to have hope survivors will be rescued 'because our first responders tell me they have hope.'

'They are the ones on the ground. They are in the tunnels, they're in the water, they're on top of the rubble pile. They're helping to sift through using the cameras, the dogs the sonar and they say they have hope,' she said.

Rescuers hit a complication in efforts on Friday as they worked to extinguish a 'deeply rooted fire' under the structure, fire officials said.

Miami Dade Fire Rescue posted a warning to residents on Friday night about 'smoky conditions' after the building collapse.

'If you live near the area of the #SurfsideBuildingCollapse, you may be experiencing smoky conditions, which can affect those with respiratory conditions. Please stay indoors, keep your windows and doors closed, and run your a/c by recirculating the air inside your home,' the agency tweeted.

Patricia Mazzei, a reporter for The New York Times, tweeted that 'the smoke tonight was rough' while Fox News reporter Lauren Blanchard described the air quality as 'thick' and said that it 'burns.'

'The wind continues to blow it in waves - sometimes it thins out where we are … but then it kicks back up,' Blanchard tweeted.

According to research from USA Today, the most common and successful methods used to try to locate survivors include acoustic detection and dogs that can sniff out living survivors.

The outlet noted that aerial drones utilizing cameras and other sensors help rescue teams monitor the collapse to find pockets where it's safe to enter the debris.

Rescuers will often also use data from smartphones and phone service providers which can show if a missing person was in the area at the time of the disaster.

Even more usefully, search teams can use radar and microwave technology to more accurately pinpoint where survivors may be, according to University of Buffalo professor Joana Gaia.

She described the technology to USA Today as being similar to 'the technology in cars that beeps when you're close to hitting something.'

'Responders are operating on a speed rather than accuracy standpoint,' Gaia said.

'They think: 'If I think a body is there, I don't care how accurate the signal is. I'm just going to try to go save the person.''

David Proulx, a vice president at defense contractor Teledyne FLIR which specializes in thermal sensing, told USA Today that robotics can be 'incredibly useful' in detecting survivors underneath the ground.

'Once you get into that subterranean realm, ground robotics become incredibly useful. It can safely go where humans can't,' Proulx told USA Today.

A crane removes wreckage of a partially collapsed building in Surfside north of Miami Beach, Florida on Friday

Crews have started to use heavy equipment such as cranes to 'strategically' lift debris in the search for survivors of the collapse

The outlet reported that at least one company is shipping a ground robot from California to help with the search.

In a press release on Friday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that federal emergency aid has been made available to the state of Florida to supplement state and local recovery efforts.

The action from President Joe Biden authorized FEMA 'to coordinate all disaster relief efforts, which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population.'

'Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency,' the news release reads.

The agency said that it would provide assistance for debris removal and emergency protective measures under the Individuals and Households Program under the Stafford Act/

Thomas J. McCool has been named as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal response operations for the affected area.

Stacie Fang, 54, died Thursday when the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, near Miami Beach, suddenly collapsed around 1:30am that morning. She was the mother of a 15-year-old boy who was dramatically rescued from the rubble with the help of a passing dog walker.

Fang, a New York native, was pulled from the debris and rushed to Aventura Hospital and Medical Center, but died of her injuries soon after.

Fang's son Jonah Handler survived the tragedy after being trapped under the frame of his bed.

Her family released a statement paying tribute to her on Friday afternoon.

Her family released a statement paying tribute to her on Friday afternoon saying: 'There are no words to describe the tragic loss of our beloved Stacie'

'There are no words to describe the tragic loss of our beloved Stacie. The members of the Fang and Handler family would like to express our deepest appreciation for the outpouring of sympathy, compassion and support we have received,' the statement said.

'The many heartfelt words of encouragement and love have served as a much needed source of strength during this devastating time. On behalf of Stacie's son, Jonah, we ask you now to please respect our privacy to grieve and to try to help each other heal.'

Pictures of Fang and her son hugging and enjoying a day at the beach were revealed by news station WPLG 10.

Pictures of Fang and her son hugging and enjoying a day at the beach were revealed by news station WPLG 10

Officials had confirmed the death of a woman Thursday before recovering three more bodies from the scene overnight.

The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's office confirmed that Fang died at 3:38am Thursday, just hours after the 12-story building was reduced to rubble.

The family of the mother and son had spent the last day desperately searching for answers as to her whereabouts.

Fang's sister Virginia Borges told the Washington Post Thursday the teen had been asking for his mother while he recovered in hospital.

The first victim of the Miami condo tower disaster has been identified as the mother of 15-year-old Jonah Handler who was dramatically rescued from the rubble with the help of a passing dog walker

'He was rescued, but he has no idea what happened to his mother. Nobody has any idea what happened to her. It's like she just disappeared,' she said.

'He wants to know what happened to his mother. We all want to know.'

Borges had joined the family members of dozens of other missing people at the Surfside community center that day anxiously awaiting news.

He was seen being pulled from the wreckage by first responders along with the help of man who was walking his dog past the scene when the building came down.

Fang is one of four people so far killed in the tragedy, as rescue teams continue to comb the scene for survivors and at least 159 people are still missing more than 36 hours on.

Her family released a statement paying tribute to her on Friday afternoon.

Pictures of Fang and her son hugging and enjoying a day at the beach were revealed by news station WPLG 10.

While the focus now is on the hunt for survivors, questions are being asked about what caused the 1980s building to suddenly collapse.

A team of scientists and engineers from the federal government agency responsible for leading investigations into building failures is now being sent to the collapse site to gather information on what went wrong.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology told The Hill the experts will 'work with federal, state and local authorities to identify and preserve materials that might be helpful in understanding why the collapse occurred.'

The assistance from the group, set up after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, comes as speculation continues to build over whether this week's tragedy could have been avoided.

It emerged Thursday that scientists had warned that the condo building was sinking and in a potentially dangerous condition one year before it collapsed, while it was due a safety certification review for the first time in 40 years. It had also just undergone improvements to its roof.

Authorities have not yet determined what caused the collapse and Miami-Dade police have opened an investigation - though Mayor Cava said 'there has been no evidence found of foul play.'

Surfside Town Manager Andy Hyatt told CNN Friday morning there had been no concerns about the building's safety prior to the disaster but said the town would carry out 'due diligence' to determine both what caused it and to ensure other buildings in the area are safe.

However, it has emerged that a 2020 study from Florida International University found the Champlain Towers South sea-view condo development was sinking at a rate of about 2 millimeters a year in the 1990s because it sits on reclaimed wetlands.

The oceanfront building was also due to have its safety recertified for the first time in 40 years this year which included the need for 'extensive repairs for rusted steel and damaged concrete' on parts of the structure.

It has also been revealed that the tower had recently undergone construction work on its roof, sparking fears this may have piled on additional weight to the sinking structure.

Search and rescue personnel have the grim task of pulling a covered body out of the rubble after the partial collapse on Thursday

The tragic scene was likely to be repeated as rescuers pulled a covered body out of the wreckage overnight Thursday

A lightning strikes above the Champlain Towers South as Search and Rescue personnel work after the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, north of Miami Beach on Thursday

A shot from a video posted by the Miami Dade fire department shows firefighters in the rubble trying to find people on Thursday

A Google Street View image shows the tower before its horrific collapse on Thursday

An advertisement for the Champlain Towers is seen in the 1980s. The Champlain Towers South sea-view condo development was built in 1981 by the late developer Nathan Reiber's company Nattel Construction at 8777 Collins Avenue in the southeast corner of Surfside but hasn't been updated significantly since then

Shimon Wdowinski, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University, told USA Today he knew instantly which building had collapsed when he heard news reports because he had studied the building for the report published last year.

'I looked at it this morning and said 'Oh my god.' We did detect that,' he said.

Wdowinski said he found that Champlain Towers South was sinking at a rate of around 2 millimeters a year in the 1990s due to its position on wetlands but that rate could have slowed down or sped up since then.

Shimon Wdowinski, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University, told USA Today that he knew instantly which building had collapsed when he heard news reports because he had studied the building for the report published last year

However, the land's slow sinking alone would not have caused the building to collapse, he said.

'It was a byproduct of analyzing the data. We saw this building had some kind of unusual movement,' Wdowinski told USA Today.

The paper was published in April 2020 in the academic journal Ocean and Coastal Management and was part of a wider look at how buildings in Miami were sinking generally with rising sea levels caused by climate change.

'In some locations, as in the eastern part of the city, the detected subsidence is of a 12-story high condominium building,' the paper ominously warns.

It's not immediately clear if the 12-story building referenced in the paper is the condo that collapsed. It's also not clear if any officials took note of the paper when it comes to shoring up any dangerous conditions in the area.

In a video posted by FIU, Wdowinski said hundreds of buildings can be sinking bit-by-bit - and hundreds of buildings can have cracks, not just in Miami.

What would cause one to collapse would be an engineering problem, he said.

Wdowinski, who has previously conducted a number of land subsidence studies including one in Mexico City, noted in the video on Thursday that the tragic Mexico City Metro overpass collapse on May 3 that killed 26 people and injured 79 others had happened in an area where he had previously detected land subsidence.

The Champlain Towers South development was built in 1981 by the late developer Nathan Reiber's company Nattel Construction at 8777 Collins Avenue in the southeast corner of Surfside, but the structure hasn't been updated significantly since then.

It had a few two-bedroom units currently on the market at the time of the collapse with asking prices of $600,000 to $700,000. Some have sold for more than $2 million.

The area is a mix of new and old apartments, houses, condominiums and hotels, with restaurants and stores serving an international combination of residents and tourists.

Shimon Wdowinski.mp4 from FIUCASE on Vimeo.

Hundreds of firefighters were seen walking through the wreckage Thursday, picking up other survivors and carrying them away. Authorities fear many more people may be dead or remain trapped under the rubble

The other areas in Miami where buildings are at risk of collapse: Map from report that predicted 12-story condo collapse reveals water-logged spots

The research identified four sites along Miami Beach where the ground is sinking. Champlain Towers South, top right, was sinking at the slowest rate

The report that detailed that the Champlain Towers South building was sinking before its horrific collapse on Thursday described other areas in Miami Beach where buildings could be at risk of collapse because of land sinking and coastal flooding.

The study revealed that in southwest South Beach, there is significant coastal flooding. It also identified other parts of northeast Miami Beach where the ground has sunk.

The report was done by Shimon Wdowinski, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University. He studied Miami Beach last year and a coastal town in Virginia to see where coastal flooding might have impacted the ground and caused it to sink.

When Champlain Towers collapsed on Thursday, Wdowinski said it came as no surprise given his research last year.

It's unclear if he gave any kind of warning to the building operators last year after he carried out his research.

It found that the ground beneath the building has been sinking at a rate of 1.9mm every year since the 1990s.

Another site where the same thing was happening is in the area surrounding Park View Island, near where there is an elementary school.

That patch of land has been sinking faster than the land beneath Champlain Towers South - at 2.3mm a year.

Further south, there are two sites in the Flamingo/Lummus area of South Beach that Wdowinski's team identified as also sinking at rates of 2.2mm a year and 2mm a year. They are in a residential and commercial district, just to the east of Star Island, the celebrity enclave.

He also found that North Bay Village, an island in between Miami Beach and Miami, was sinking.

In an interview with USA Today on Thursday, Wdowinski said: 'I looked at it this morning and said 'Oh my god.' We did detect that.'

He maintains that land subsidence would not cause a building to collapse and that something else must have contributed to it.

The study analyzed data from satellites using the technology Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar, known as InSAR, to compile datasets spanning from 1992–1999.

The map shows Miami Beach, left, with locations were there high amounts of land subsidence (in red) and coastal flooding (in blue). It reveals that there are other areas where the ground has subsided at a faster rate than where the Champlain Tower South collapsed

The team analyzed four sites where the ground has been sinking. The top one shows the Champlain Towers site and the others are all parts of land where there are apartment buildings, stores and even one near an elementary school. They were all sinking at a faster rate than the Champlain Towers site. The researchers say this alone shouldn't cause buildings to collapse so there's no need for alarm

The center portion of the tower was the first to fall with the east section of the building collapsing moments later

The study found that land sank in locations around Miami Beach at rates between 1 and 3 millimeters per year- mainly in parts of the city built on reclaimed wetlands.

In Norfolk, land subsidence was seen in areas along the shore and inland at similar rates – with some areas showing land sinking at rates up to 8 millimeters per year.

According to the United States Geological Survey, more than 80% of known land subsidence in the U.S. 'is a consequence of groundwater use and is an often-overlooked environmental consequence' of land and water-use practices.

'Land subsidence is a gradual settling or sudden sinking of the Earth's surface due to removal or displacement of subsurface earth materials,' according to the agency.

It can occur at different rates and has even been recorded at rates more than 200 millimeters per year in some places around the globe like Jakarta, Indonesia.

Norfolk and Miami Beach were chosen as the locations for the study because both communities have been subjected to repeated coastal flooding over the past decade, the researchers said in the study.

In Norfolk, flooding has occurred in multiple locations throughout the city characterized by low elevation.

A huge emergency search and rescue operation is underway after the beachfront condo tower, Champlain Towers South, collapsed at about 1.30am this morning in the Miami neighborhood of Surfside. One woman has been confirmed dead and at least eight people were injured

Rescue teams rescued 35 people from the damaged building and two people, including the young boy, were pulled from the rubble in the early stages of the search operation

The results indicate that about 97% of Miami Beach was stable during the observation period but several localized subsiding areas were detected mostly in the western part of the city.

The study noted that most of the subsidence happened at single-family houses that were built on reclaimed wetlands. However, the study also specifically called out the Champlain Towers South condominium.

'In some locations, as in the eastern part of the city, the detected subsidence is of a 12-story high condominium building,' the report reads.

However, the study determined that higher subsidence rates up to 3.8 millimeters per year were registered in the artificial islands located west of the city like the Venetian Islands as well as North Bay Village.

Portions of Miami Beach like Mid-Beach and Bayshore as well as La Gorce appeared to show lower levels of subsidence.

'The rest of the city remained stable,' the report reads.

Luckily, some of Miami Beach's tallest buildings, including the 44-floor Green Diamond and Blue Diamond towers, appear to sit in areas with low levels of land subsidence.

The report appears to conclude that the geology of the area, which is made up of a plateau of karst limestone, may contribute to localized subsidence even though no regional subsidence has been recorded in south Florida.

Wdowinski uploaded a video to the Vimeo platform on Thursday explaining the findings of his study and why it had been conducted.

'For this area of the Atlantic Coast, at the time, there weren't at the time many observations,' he said.

He said that the 1 to 3 millimeters per year subsidence is 'pretty small' but added 'when you think about the accumulation over time then it can be a few inches over decades and that was our concern.'

Wdowinski said that InSar has been used to monitor buildings and in many cases where buildings crack and move, they also show subsidence.

'We've seen that in another study that we studied detections of sinkholes in central western Florida, we saw that there were some buildings that moved and when we went to check we saw there were some cracks,' Wdowinski said.

The researcher said that the InSar technology is commonly used around the world to detect movement of buildings.

'In most cases, these buildings move and there's no catastrophic collapse like in the case here in Surfside - which was very unfortunate,' he said.

Wdowinski said that the western parts of the city where the researchers detected subsidence were in places where the researchers had expected to see the subsidence.

'There was unusual pocket we saw in surfside which was in the eastern side, known to be a stable part of the city,' he said.

'Over there, we didn't expect to see subsidence, so we didn't pay too much attention to that. We just recorded it because that's what the data shows.'

He added: 'We just reported that because the focus of the study was about land subsidence and not about trying to analyze building damage or anything like that. So it's a byproduct of our analysis that we saw movement and we didn't pay that much attention and just recorded it in the paper.'

A Miami-Dade Fire Rescue team sprays water onto the rubble as rescue efforts continue where a wing of a 12-story beachfront condo building collapsed late on Thursday

He said that the land subsidence seen in Miami Beach occurs in 'smaller pockets' about the size of a house than like that he had detected in Mexico City.

'In some cases, it can be just that the building is not built properly and it can have cracks because of the problem of the building itself and it still moves – and we can detect it with this technology.'

In Miami Beach, the city is built on a barrier island that has a rockier foundation on the eastern side. The western side was made of wetlands that were reclaimed before houses were built on the reclaimed wetlands – which tends to subside in a process called soil consolidation.

'In the eastern side of the city where the buildings are built on bedrock, it's less likely to have movement of the building and the ground beneath the building – which is why we didn't expect to see any movement,' he said.

'The building can move due to the land or can be due to cracks within the buildings and hundreds of buildings have cracks and they move … and it doesn't mean it will collapse.'

He said there was 'something from an engineering point of view that caused it to collapse' and that it could have been from the ground moving or cracks that had formed in the building in the 1990s.

Newsif Blog

Search This Blog