Miami Beach residents forced to evacuate apartment building deemed unsafe

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Miami Beach residents were forced to evacuate their apartment building last week after it was deemed unsafe for living due to a partial roof collapse. 

Residents were informed last Wednesday at 2 p.m. that they had to leave at 7 p.m. until repairs on the building were complete, according to WSVN.

An "Unsafe Structure" notice was placed on the building.

The roof collapse happened where the building's electrical systems merge. Coastal Florida high-rise residents have been on edge in the year since a Surfside apartment building collapse left 98 people dead.

"We’re all in a scramble to figure out what to do," resident Jose Maldonado told WSVN. "It’s not the first time that some craziness that has affected everyone in the building has happened, so I think people are just generally anxious, upset, displaced."

Miami Beach, Florida (iStock)

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The cause of the roof collapse is still in question, but residents of the four-story, 54-unit building recall water damage from the rain. Once the collapse happened, water entered the building. Another resident, Eddy Trotter, said the building's plumbing issue is not a new occurrence. 

"They’ve known about issues with the plumbing in the building and drainage and the standpipe, and the fire department has known about it too," said Trotter.

The building released a statement in response to the evacuation. 

"I know people are pretty upset," said Maldonado, "but following things that happened at Surfside, I’d rather hear a bunch of angry neighbors than a bunch of sad families, so I appreciate the property management doing what they can to get us out."

Emergency workers at the site of a partially collapsed residential building in Surfside, near Miami Beach, Florida, June 29, 2021. (Reuters/Joe Skipper)

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There were no injuries following the emergency evacuation.