First responders were working Monday despite inclement weather as Tropical Storm Elsa gets closer to Florida after making landfall in Cuba. A video tweeted by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue shows workers enduring strong winds while standing on the debris of what was the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside.
The National Weather Service said there is a slight risk of severe thunderstorms across portions of South Florida on Tuesday “due to an elevated tornado threat” associated with the storm.
Charles Burkett, the mayor of Surfside, said the site is “busier” and “more active” now since the collapse. Search and rescue operations appear to be moving much faster than prior to the demolition, he said.
“The heavy equipment is now able to move around the site as needed,” he said. “The looming threat of that building, the dangerous situation where debris could fall down is now eliminated. We’re operating at 100% capacity.”
“I’m very excited about that and I believe, I sense that the families were too,” he added.
Following the building demolition, crews have removed over 4.8 million pounds of concrete from the scene, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said.
“I’m in awe of the men and women of the US&R task force teams that have been continuing to brave dangerous and changing conditions,” she said during a Monday evening news briefing. “For 12 days, fires, smoke and now wind and torrential rain.”
{{#rendered}}Another body was recovered Monday, bring the total death tool to 28, Maimi-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said.
So far, authorities had identified 26 people and 117 people remain unaccounted for.
Officials will give another update on search and rescue operations at 6:30 p.m. ET.
The Miami Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #20 teamed up with the University of Miami Hurricanes football program, Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo and a local Cuban restaurant to feed 300 first responders at the scene in Surfside on Saturday evening, according to a police lodge tweet.
Images posted by the union show a table with prepackage meals and players meeting with responders.
{{#rendered}}Miami-Dade Police have identified two of the three victims of the Surfside condo collapse that were found amongst the rubble this morning – Ingrid Ainsworth, 66, and Tzvi Ainsworth, 68.
The couple had just been celebrating the birth of two new grandchildren and had seven children themselves, according to the Associated Press.
“Every person she encountered, ever in her life, became her friend. Everyone was treated as equals,” Chana Wasserman – one of Ingrid’s daughters – reportedly wrote in a Mother’s Day blog post last year. “The guy at the laundromat, the guy working at the fruit market ...”
Deven Gonzalez, a 16-year-old rising volleyball star and Champlain Towers South survivor, reportedly fell four stories before being brought to safety.
Her volleyball coach told the Associated Press that she and her mother, Angela, lived on the ninth floor of the building and were rescued on the fifth floor.
Gonzalez has since undergone multiple surgeries after breaking her femur – and also has apologized to her coach for missing practice.
"I said, ‘Let’s focus on you right now and not volleyball,'" coach Amy Morgan told the Associated Press.
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Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett says rescue crews are now working in six different locations on the Champlain Towers South rubble pile, resuming their work only 20 minutes after the remainder of the building was taken down in a controlled demolition last night.
“Heavy equipment is now being able to be employed in the rescue effort where before it was not,” he said. “That is a significant change.”
“Operations are now moving much faster than they ever have,” he added.
{{#rendered}}Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says he will be signing a revised executive order today likely removing Miami-Dade from those counties under a State of Emergency ahead of Tropical Storm Elsa.
DeSantis says the storm to continues to track “further west,” based on the latest forecasts.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has confirmed that the death toll from the Champlain Towers South building collapse is at 27, while 118 people remain unaccounted for as of midday Monday.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida officials are set to give updates on the search and rescue efforts.
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Click here to watch the Florida officials.
{{#rendered}}Three more victims have been found this morning in the rubble of the Champlain Towers South condo collapse site, the Associated Press is reporting, bringing the death toll in the disaster to 27.
Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah has notified the families of those missing of the discoveries, the news agency adds.
Rescue crews work are seen Monday at the site of the collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building after the remaining structure was demolished.
First responders in Miami Beach paid tribute to the victims of the Surfside condo building collapse Sunday night by flashing their vehicles’ emergency lights.
“In a show of solidarity and support with Surfside, we shined a light paying tribute to all of the victims, their families and first responders involved in this national tragedy,” the Miami Beach Police Department said in a tweet.
Miami Beach Fire posted photos and videos of its trucks lined up with their lights flashing.
{{#rendered}}Miami-Dade Police have identified David Epstein, 58, as one of the victims in the Surfside condo building collapse.
He was found Friday, two days after his wife, Bonnie, also was discovered amongst the rubble, according to the Miami Herald.
The newspaper says both Epsteins were snowbirds from the Northeast who had been enjoying an early retirement following their years spent in the real estate investing business.
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Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told NBC’s 'Today' Show this morning that families of those missing in the wake of the Surfside condo building collapse “realize the chances are growing dimmer and dimmer” of finding people alive.
Cava made the remark hours after the remaining portion of the building was brought down in a controlled demolition.
“We are going to continue the search, we are continuing our twice-daily briefings with the families, we are going to do everything in our power to continue to search,” she added.
In an emergency hearing, a judge in Florida on Sunday night denied a pet advocate’s request to search for missing animals inside the partially collapsed Surfside condo building before the standing portion of the building was demolished, according to a report.
One missing animal, Coco the cat, was believed to still be on the fourth floor of the Champlain Towers building – before it was brought down by explosives in a controlled demolition after 10 p.m. ET Sunday, the Miami Herald reported.
The decision by Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman was a disappointment to Stacey Karron, 57, who volunteers to rescue animals, the newspaper reported.
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{{#rendered}}Personnel from the Miami Beach, Florida, police and fire departments – as well as the city’s 911 dispatchers -- took time Sunday night to honor the victims of last month’s condo building partial collapse in nearby Surfside.
A video posted on social media showed members of the department participating in a light tribute to the victims – as well as their families and first responders.
"This evening, in a show of solidarity and support with Surfside, we shined a light paying tribute to all of the victims, their families and first responders involved in this national tragedy," a department statement posted on Twitter said. "We were joined by members of MiamiBeachFire and our 911 Dispatchers. #SurfsideStrong."
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The still-standing portion of the partially collapsed condo building in Surfside, Florida, was brought down using explosives Sunday night.
The move occurred after 10 p.m. ET, 11 days after the shocking collapse of much of the residential Champlain Towers structure on June 24 that resulted in 24 confirmed deaths, with 121 people still unaccounted for, according to Miami-Dade County officials.
County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the demolition of the remaining portion of the building was a necessary step for crews to continue their search for any possible survivors of the disaster.
Search crews will resume sifting through the rubble after the demolition as soon as they receive an "all clear" signal from site managers, the mayor said.
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