So stated a member of a family awaiting news of a loved one somewhere in that tragic pile of debris on Collins Avenue. Normally, Collins Avenue is a long street winding along the shores of Miami Beach, lined with tall buildings full of residents and tourists, looking for a good life in the sun of South Florida, out of the cold of the northern states. What happened to that South Tower, and just using those two words brings a chill to one's soul as we remember another tower that collapsed, albeit from a different cause. We hope and pray that neither reason or cause reoccurs.
In the meanwhile, we must be receptive to the message in that mess. How the hell, why the hell, did that building collapse. It is not enough that we dig, that we try, in ever lessening moments of hope, to find living survivors, for truly, there is very little hope of survival for more than a few, if even that. We must know why. There are too many other buildings in similar locations, with similar building plans of construction, and the truth of the cause or the tandem of causal combinations, must be discovered and addressed. Lives are at stake.
A lawyer for the Condo Association said that they has used a proper "deliberative approach" to the repairs necessary according to a 2018 engineer's report. There was focus then and now on the condition of the rebars, the metal rebars that provide much of the strength of support to the building structure. Yes, it is expensive to repair them. Yes, financial plans had to take effect. Yes, they ran into the pandemic. And yes, they failed in their responsibilities to themselves and the residents of the tower.
One cannot use a deliberative approach when the problem is urgent. Plans needed to have been made before, for contingencies, possibilities in all forms that plague a building here in south Florida. Reserves needed to be replenished each year, accumulating, until a need is found. Surely, that report was such a need. Why were there not plans for it? Why was the building not kept up. Penny wise and pound foolish, life foolish, is not a good equation. The results are clear.
My own building had an engineer's study made and rebar needed repairs. So the repair was done. Immediately. The reserves were used to pay for this unexpected necessity. Contingencies had been planned for. The Board here, and the residents, know how important it is to keep up with a building and its needs, particularly when the building is aging. But structural health is of most important gravity. To ignore it is to imperil, risk, the lives of many.
The collapse was described as a "progressive failure". Engineers are now focusing on a possible initial cause of collapse rooted deep under the building, with the parking garage and the columns in it, under it, playing a role. It is common sense that if one's legs cannot support one's body, the body will fall. The same with a building.
This is why I am appalled at reports that here in Century Village there are buildings that have neglected their structural integrity, allowing for collapse to be an immediate cause of worry and concern. How has this happened? What happened to the attention of the residents, of the owners of the units? Where was their financial sense as they risked their own financial investments. They increased their own risks - financially, in terms of responsibility, and in life terms.
Make no mistake about it. We are not alone. There are so many developments in Florida of various ages and all face the same issues. Fancy tall luxury buildings, smaller two and three story buildings all have the cumulative damage of salt, wind, hurricanes, shifting earth and water tables beneath buildings, rising oceans and tides and all must be inspected. All must be accounted for, prepared for even as one hopes that the seriousness remains low. But it does not.
More than that, the situation worsens as more and more homes and buildings are being thrown up around the area. Any empty lot is faced with peril to its continued existence, as almost overnight, the trees are removed, the land is scraped dry, more heat inducing concrete poured, and wooden frameworks dot the sites, are thrown up, again, seemingly almost overnight. Can we trust that these buildings are up to code? Can we trust that proper concrete is poured, metals up to code. The roof? Can we trust, or even believe that every single structure has been inspected - at the same time that older structures must also be inspected? Florida permit laws are strict, we all know that, but in reality, there is a limit to capabilities, necessities and limitations.
Meanwhile, the threats grow. Adjacent to our Village is a former neglected golf course, with plans for an enormous overcrowded, overbuilt development. Waivers are being asked for in so many areas - including the land and its toxins, the amount of area to be built upon, its too close borders to the sidewalks, the unbelievable stress to be put upon Haverhill and the risk to the seniors of the Village as they cross an already dangerous street. More threatening is the risk of flooding, life threatening, massive areas, within the Village, as proper drainage is being ignored and/or downplayed by the owners of the golf course, and the damages will result in a Village that is literally at risk of being underwater with any stronger rainstorm, let alone with the ever increasing hurricanes that hit Florida on a regular basis.
Surely there is a sensible approach to this, a deliberative, realistic, humane approach that takes into account that this massive build up, has clearly defined problems for the present and for the very near future, let alone for longer terms. Tax money increasing is good, but destroying the very style of Florida life that people are paying for is counter productive and dangerous in so many, too many ways.
Before it is too late, and I sincerely hope that we have not already reached that point, we must reconsider all current plans of building, the waivers being requested, the need for further inspections of new buildings and of refits of older ones. Deep pockets must not be the deciding factor here. Not if we are to avoid, prevent, further building collapses - and we need to do so with proper and timely deliberative action and attention.
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