Community Chat

[golding76]

Tonight, both the ABC and NBC evening news shows cited the Florida International University study about the sinking of this and other buildings in South Florida.  This has been known since the 1990s, and I do remember hearing about the sinking buildings at that time.

What is so concerning is that perhaps some condo owners are snowbirds and have gone elsewhere for the summer, but the reporters interviewed two different families who were missing loved ones.  The missing individuals (all from South America) were staying temporarily at the Surfside condo.  One family came up to get the COVID-19 vaccination and the other had a young daughter who was taking tennis lessons.  

[Mindy D]

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@golding76 wrote:

Tonight, both the ABC and NBC evening news shows cited the Florida International University study about the sinking of this and other buildings in South Florida.  This has been known since the 1990s, and I do remember hearing about the sinking buildings at that time.

What is so concerning is that perhaps some condo owners are snowbirds and have gone elsewhere for the summer, but the reporters interviewed two different families who were missing loved ones.  The missing individuals (all from South America) were staying temporarily at the Surfside condo.  One family came up to get the COVID-19 vaccination and the other had a young daughter who was taking tennis lessons.  

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@golding76 The study was conducted last year using data such as satellite photos from the period 1993-1999

Study : "Land subsistence contribution to coastal flooding hazard in southeast Florida,"

Wdowinski, S., Oliver-Cabrera, T., and Fiaschi, S,, 2020.

See the study here:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjhspfi0bHxAhVYG80KHfDVD6oQ...

[golding76]

 I know it has been quite a while since I first heard about this.  Perhaps I heard about the early studies.  

It was long ago.  That is all I know.

[My response was nonsensical because I heard a family member come in the door and rushed to greet him.  I think this is now clearer.]

[Lucky Charm]

I'm thinking many of these highrises and for that matter, all bldgs will be looked at more closely and quickly for safety's sake in that area.

What a tragedy.  I'm holding out hope for more survivors!

[Firefly901]

There was a TV documentary some time ago on climate change and projected impacts on south Florida.  At that time the beach areas were experiencing lots of flooding at high tide.  They projected that with climate change, the Atlantic Ocean would eventually reclaim much of the beach areas. Could this event be related to this projection?

[golding76]

Firefly901,

Your thought was part of our speculative comments tonight at dinner.

One other thought came up, too.  Do you recall that in the 1980s the Miami area was awash in drug money?   The drug kingpins looked for legitimate investments for their ridiculous amount of loot and built condos -- condos went up quickly and all over the South Florida area.  As many as 12 were built simultaneously, someone reminded me.

Perhaps in the rush to erect these buildings, not to mention possible payoffs to ignore all the codes faithfully so that little time was lost, the integrity of the buildings was compromised.

"The amount of money produced by Miami's coke industry in the Eighties was unlike anything ever seen in the nation's history. So much cash was pouring into town from the wholesale and retail sectors of the trade that its sheer bulk presented logistical problems for the banks enthusiastically and unquestioningly accepting it. The U.S. Treasury Department made a couple of startling calculations: A full-size suitcase stuffed with twenty-dollar bills could hold roughly a half-million dollars, yet many millions were being deposited every day. How to count it all? Also this: Analysis indicated that, in 1978 and 1979, the United States' entire currency surplus could be ascribed to Miami-area banks. As IRS investigator Michael McDonald put it: "What we're dealing with here is beyond any imagination."

[gertrudecloset]

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@Mindy D wrote:

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@ROMARY wrote:

Was there a rumor re: a lightning strike?

All I know is, that around here, lightning and thunder almost always shakes the ground, houses.  

Deep vibrations, I guess from the sound of the thunder, etc.

Wishing and hoping for complete rescue and safety for all, including responders/rescue workers, and including the K9's.

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@ROMARY @I don't know if lightning hit the building or not, but we had the worst lightning Ive ever seen here last night and we are the lightning capital of the world. It is possible that the building was hit. If lightning had anything to do with this the fire department and engineers will know. There were many strikes around my house last night. I had to unplug everything. All the car alarms were going off. I'm north of Surfside but was tracking the storm on radar. They had lightning. We have lightning strikes without rain sometimes too.

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Not hanging out where you live.  I'm extremely afraid of lightning.  When we get a bad storm I go hide in the basement because there are no windows there.  There are dozens of windows in my home and I don't wanna see no ligthning.

[patbz]

Thought it was interesting that several national newscasts mentioned that the collapsed condo building has a sister building nearby.  I imagine that it as well as other condo projects of the same vintage will be soon looked at with newly vigilant eyes.

[gertrudecloset]

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@patbz wrote:

Thought it was interesting that several national newscasts mentioned that the collapsed condo building has a sister building nearby.  I imagine that it as well as other condo projects of the same vintage will be soon looked at with newly vigilant eyes.

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I would certainly hope so @patbz .  I can't even begin to describe how awful this is.

[Firefly901]

The South Florida Building Code is very strong, and that county had a reputation for effective enforcement.  They need to move quickly to determine what happened.