Miami: Hundreds of residents evacuated from an 8-story building | Authorities called him “dangerous”

Hundreds of residents of an eight-story building in Miami were ordered to evacuate after authorities called it “dangerous.”, and more than six weeks after the Champlain Towers South condo in Surfside collapsed which left 98 people dead.

Occupants of the 137 apartments in the building near Miami Airport received the notification Monday evening and immediately began packing and packing some things in their vehicles, as local media showed on Tuesday. .

The order, which sets the deadline for the evacuation of the building on Tuesday morning, comes after local authorities met with residents on July 26 to discuss the condition of the structure, which It was on a list of “dangerous” buildings drawn up by the authorities in May.

According to the Miami Herald newspaper, the day after the meeting, and after an inspection, officials ordered the garage to be closed due to problems in the structure.

Although they did not provide a plan to fix the failures or request permits to undertake work, local officials received a notification last week in which they were told the building was safe to live in given the repairs in progress.

The inspection that led to the decision

However, the inspection carried out on Monday determined that these repairs were “not sufficient” for the reinforcement of the columns and ordered the evacuation of the building.

“The structural integrity was degraded by the contractor who carried out repairs for which he was not authorized.”Asael Marrero, a Miami city official, told local NBC Miami.

The owners’ assembly had received a notification on July 7 for several regulatory breaches, and had not gone through the mandatory recertification process as it is a structure that is over 40 years old.

“If this building is demolished, our property and all our memories of growing up here will be gone,” resident Mya Ncastanedo told WSVN on the local channel. Meanwhile, local authorities are working with residents to find temporary shelter.

Other similar commands

Evacuation process joins other similar orders issued to Miami-Dade and issued after building collapsed Champlain Tours South, in the coastal town of Surfside, which collapsed on June 24 for causes that are still under investigation.

In that case, a 2018 report signed by Frank Morabito warned of “significant structural damage” to the building, and a repair project involving a million dollar investment was recommended. Before the repairs began, tragedy occurred.