Demolition work was underway Sunday ahead of the possible arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa in a partially collapsed Miami-area condo where 25 people have been confirmed dead.
“We don’t have a specific time,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniela Levin Cava told reporters on Saturday. “We still have hope that we can do the demolition before the storm.”
As of Sunday morning, Tropical Storm Elsa was off the coast of Jamaica with winds of 60 mph (100 kph). The storm was forecast to move across Cuba on Monday and reach western Florida later on Monday or Tuesday.
Officials said in the rubble of the Champlain Towers South complex at Surfside, workers were digging into pillars where explosives would be charged to bring down the building’s remains. The mayor said residents of nearby buildings did not need to be evacuated.
Investigators have not determined what caused the 40-year-old compound to collapse on June 24. A 2018 engineering report found structural deficiencies that are now the focus of inquiries that include a grand jury examination.
Meanwhile, all residents of another building, Crestview Towers in North Miami Beach, were told on Friday to leave immediately after engineers found serious concrete and electrical problems, officials said.
The move was considered urgent because of Elsa’s approach, said North Miami Beach city manager Arthur Soare, adding that the building’s owners had not yet begun a mandatory safety recertification process, required 40 years after construction. was.
“It’s certainly not an easy decision,” Soare said. “It is the right thing to do during this time. It is uncertain what is going to happen with the storm.”