Florida building collapse: Emergency response after incident in Surfside near Miami

Just saw that 51 people are unaccounted for as of right now.

If I lived in the other part that still standing, I would get as much stuff as I could and get out.
After that collapse, the entire place has to be unstable.

a reply to: Realtruth

In a condo, each apartment has it's own main supply, as well as a distribution area for the condo itself. Plus, during a structural collapse, the mains don't always trip first... as each section starts to go, that breaker will trip, leaving power on to the rest of the apartment. The mains are a last resort that disengage only if the other breakers fail to trip fast enough. It's completely possible to have hundreds of flashes as individual circuits in individual apartments short out one by one.

TheRedneck

a reply to: TheRedneck


Another thought is reflections from lights, on windows as it's falling. But I leaning to sink-hole. I don't think any high-rises in Florida are safe, even the ones that are build well.

a reply to: Realtruth

That's true... a falling window can act as a reflector. A falling shattered window can act as a thousand reflectors. Good thinking.

I don't think I will purposely postpone a vacation to the beach over this, but I would be wary about that area now. Assuming that was a collapse of a sinkhole, it might or might not have been the entire sinkhole. Another section could collapse under a building tomorrow, next year, 20 years from now, or never. Hopefully, once the dust clears, Miami will investigate and determine it there is any future danger at this time.

TheRedneck

Ivanka and Jared's new home is only a block away from this. I wonder how many residents of that building worked for them in some capacity, builders, plumbers, grounds keepers, house keepers, etc.

I don't like them, but I feel sad for their proximity to this predicament.

a reply to: Sookiechacha

Really?

a reply to: TheRedneck


I wouldn't postpone a vaca to Florida either, it's just many builders over-the-years have built on questionable land, and they knew it.

Their compaction tests were probably skewed, and falsified. Building codes and standards are only as good as the people that follow them. I'm concerned more about the projects that were done by unscrupulous builders and inspectors. The issue is which ones are and which ones aren't in Florida. I like condo's and houses that are close to the ground personally, never liked high builds for sleeping in, but I'm more of a bohemian type of guy anyhow.

One of the articles said there was construction of another high-rise going on nearby. Construction of any high-rise in just about all of southern FL requires pilings to be driven which the buildings sit on. The shock waves from pile driving often causes sand slurry (sand impregnated with seawater) to settle. If there was the beginnings of a large void (sink hole) already starting near the foundations of the building, the pile driving adjacent to the building could cause the void to increase exponentially destabilizing the existing building and leading to collapse.

ETA - The original pilings would still be there, but when there's a void these same pilings are not restrained from moving laterally and/or shearing.

That collapse video looks like the larger flashes are electric shorts, the dimmer ones might be security lights coming on with batteries as the power is lost and they go out as the building crumbles.

The death tole will be much higher than currently reported.

Sand is not good to build a high rise on.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Impressive command of the mechanics involved! I hadn't considered the pylons as a potential part of the problem, but that makes sense.

I don't usually use a post to commend someone, but... have a star.

TheRedneck

a reply to: Sookiechacha

I think he was referring to the introduction of political angst into a disaster thread.

We all know you hate Donald Trump, anyone who knows Donald Trump, anyone who likes Donald Trump, and anyone who might like Donald Trump. But people are dead, injured, and missing, and no one cares about your politics at this time. Can we please move on now?

TheRedneck

a reply to: TheRedneck

There's nothing political about noting that America's former first family being residents only one block away from this tragedy. If it was a block from Mar A Lago, we'd be talking about it.

Some online voices are wondering if the Navy detonating that huge bomb off the coast might have upset that fragile area. Or if if it wasn't some kind of sonic weapon. Were they targets?

Maybe that area is just riddles with pot holes, it certainly doesn't seem like a safe place for them to invest in, let alone live.

And, since Ivanka and Jared did just purchase that property, I wonder if they employed any of those injured or killed. They're the only people I know of who live right there.

Wow, that building looked like it dropped into a hole. R.I.P. to those that were in that building.

It was built in the 80s, I'm thinking erosion/sinkhole is quite possible/likely.

a reply to: TheRedneck

I may have built a couple things in my life. LOL! (understatement of the ages!)

It's the same principle as over-vibrating concrete in a concrete form. The limestone aggregate separates and sinks to the bottom, weakening the sand and cement mixture above it. Except in this case we're dealing with sand and water. The shock waves send the sand to the bottom and all that's left is a void filled with water which has effectively zero structural capacity (at least in this context).

Now they are saying that 99 people are unaccounted for.

a reply to: RazorV66

Judging by the size of the collapse area, I wouldn't be surprised to see even that number go up.

Fifty seemed pretty low based on what I saw.

I didn't see it anywhere (yet)...does anyone know what the local time was when this event occurred?

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Just after 0130 local.

seems to me that a building this size would have steel framing. wonder where that went? so its all in a hole? looks pretty dusted to me.