Woman Missing in Miami Beach Condo Disaster Had Been Woken by 'Creaking' Building, Says Son

[babylonsister]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/miami-beach-condo-disaster-missing-woman-had-been-woken-by-creaking-noises?ref=home


Woman Missing in Miami Beach Condo Disaster Had Been Woken by ‘Creaking’ Building, Says Son
‘TROUGHS OF DISBELIEF’
Philippe Naughton
Updated Jun. 25, 2021 4:27AM ET /
Published Jun. 25, 2021 3:42AM ET

A woman missing after the Surfside apartment block collapse had been woken up by “creaking noises” the previous night, according to her son. Pablo Rodriguez, whose mother and grandmother are both unaccounted for after Thursday’s disaster, said his mother had called him on Wednesday. “She just told me she had woken up around 3, 4 in the morning and had heard like some creaking noises,” Rodriguez told CNN. “They were loud enough to wake her.” He said it seemed like an offhand comment, but added: “Now, in hindsight, you always wonder.” At least 99 people are missing after the collapse of the Champlain Towers complex, which had been experiencing structural “issues” for years. Asked how he was handling his emotions, Rodriguez said: “It’s waves of devastation with troughs of disbelief... This doesn’t happen. Buildings don’t just collapse. It’s not real.”

[CurtEastPoint]

1. "structural "issues" for years" And they were ignored. Now look at the tragedy. Shameful.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. This may be the thing that starts a long look at construction...

practices down there.

Plenty of corruption in building everywhere, but the smart crooks know how to make sure they don't kill people.

Unless there's a good reason, of course.

[Submariner]

7. Millions in coke cash were laundered through Miami banks and

turned into a condo building boom during the cocaine war days of the early 80s. This could be one of those coke “investments”.

[temporary311]

18. With Republicans in charge down there

I wouldn't count on it.

[Klaralven]

2. Surprising that this doesn't happen more frequently

Tall reinforced concrete building on the seashore with salt air and salt spray for 40 years.

They probably didn't use more concrete or reinforcing rod than they had to when it was built.

Since it's a condo, it has been maintained by a HOA that has been trying to keep the maintenance fees and assessments down.

If the buildings are not well sealed, salt water can get in the columns, corrode the steel, swell and break the concrete.

Usually these buildings collapse like this during earthquakes, but static failure is not unheard of, especially in places like Turkey where construction codes are lax.

[lagomorph777]

14. Bizarrely, galvanized steel rebar has not yet been approved in building code.

This is criminal, in my opinion. They allow shitty plastic-coated rebar, which actually accelerates corrosion, but galvanized rebar, which would last for many centuries, is not allowed.

[Klaralven]

17. I used to commute past the Gerdau works in Perth Amboy, NJ

Basically a plant for melting scrap and turning it into reinforcing rod. Then the coils of reinforcing rod sat in the yard until they got really rusty before being shipped out.

It's now closed, and replaced by couple of distribution warehouses.

[lagomorph777]

20. Yeah, generally it's already rusty by the time they pour it into the concrete.

Not good. As the corrosion continues, the rust expands and cracks the concrete apart.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. Building inspection reports should be enlightening

As long as they don't have to pay anything insurance inspectors will ignore settling issues.

[Vinca]

5. I wonder how many other buildings down there are in the same condition.

It will be interesting to learn what exactly happened to this place. That poor woman. How could she possibly imagine what was about to happen?

[area51]

6. "Buildings don't just collapse."

They do in 3rd world countries, like banana republics which funnel most of their tax dollars to the military and view healthcare as a luxury item.

[DownriverDem]

9. Yep

repubs have not wanted to fund infrastructure for decades. Come to Michigan. Thanks to repubs we have horrible roads and crumbling bridges. When will voters get that repubs let this happen?

[JI7]

11. Yup, This is why we need strong govt. It's not socialism or communism to support regulations which

prevent these type of things from happening as much as possible .

It's why Japan is able to have high rises.

[DownriverDem]

8. Consider

sink holes and/or sea level drops. So sad.

[Jon King]

10. Lots of that area is built on limestone...

Miami and the surrounding areas will have lots and lots of issues going forward with climate change.

[lagomorph777]

15. Specifically, karst.

In other words, one has to wonder whether any sinkhole activity might be involved...

[malaise]

12. The lawsuits have started

They just read one on Local 10

[question everything]

13. And DeSantis can kiss his presidential aspirations goodbye

[lagomorph777]

16. I wish.

He'll find some way to exploit this. Maybe like GW Bush, standing on a pile of bodies with a megaphone.

[Silent3]

19. If Trump can still be popular with his base...

...after his disastrous handling of COVID, this is less than a footnote in the ongoing DeSantis story.