reveal the video of a torrent of water falling in the parking lot of the building a few minutes before the collapse

The tragedy of the collapsed building in Miami brings new dramatic chapters hour after hour. Now, as the rescue efforts were slowed down by the dangers of new landslides, a video has been released showing a torrent of water falling in the parking lot of the Champlains Towers building.

Yesterday, the desperate call of first firefighter to arrive on the scene of the tragedy, who in complete shock describes what he saw before his eyes comparing it to 9/11.

Now the new video has been shot by a couple, Adriana Sarmiento and Roberto Castillero, who filmed the footage in the early in the morning of June 24. One of the videos, taken after they both heard a loud bang, shows how water and concrete debris fall. It was a few minutes before the collapse.

Sarmiento claimed that the two, who were staying in a hotel near the Champlain Towers, went out into the street, trying to make signs for residents to evacuate the condo, but they couldn’t understand it.

They barely remember the flashes of what happened next. “Dust, then glass, rock, and then I started running for my life“said Castillero, according to CNN. Where are the people on the balcony? He wondered. “I didn’t realize that the balcony was no longer there,” he added.

the the death toll rose to 18 after the discovery of six bodies under the rubble in the last hours.

The first firefighter’s call and September 11

Wednesday the desperate call of the first firefighter who came to rescue the people of the building located in the Calle 88 with Av. Collins.

His words are eloquent: “I see a lot of people on their balconies. The building fell. There is no elevator, ”described the first official to arrive at the disaster site. “Looks like the World Trade Center“, He added.

“Some people evacuate, they say it sounded like a bomb», Commented the rescuer.

The building needed repairs worth US $ 9 million

After the tragedy, one of the first information that emerged was the marked deterioration of the Champlain Towers, to the point that it was confirmed that they were in need of repairs and work. valued at over $ 9 million, including 3.8 million only for the garage and the swimming pool, precisely the place of the condominium which is today singled out as the trigger for the collapse.

This is one of the new revelations contained in a 2018 report, which pointed out that the building had structural damage. Almost three years before the waterfront condo Champlain Towers near Miami collapsed, an engineering firm estimated major repairs to the building would cost more than $ 9 million, according to recently released emails.

The signature email Morabito Consultants was part of a series of documents released by the city of Surfside (Miami-Dade County) as rescue efforts continued at the site of the collapsed building, amid debris, where 16 people have already died and there are more than 140 missing.

The release of the 2018 cost estimate followed the earlier release of another company document showing that the building’s ground floor pool deck rested on a concrete slab that had “major structural damage” and needed a thorough repair.

Structural damage

This report also discovered “Abundant cracks and splinters” of columns, beams and concrete walls in the parking lot. The report did not warn of the imminent danger of the damage and it is not clear whether any of the damage observed was responsible for the collapse of the Champlain South Towers, but it is under investigation.

The cost estimate showed that repairs throughout the building would cost over $ 9.1 million, and that the cost of repairing the garage, driveway and pool deck would amount to more than $ 3.8 million.

The work was not finished when the building collapsed. The previous report said that waterproofing under the pool deck had failed and it had been improperly positioned flat rather than at an angle, preventing water from flowing.

“Failed waterproofing causes significant structural damage to the structural concrete slab below these areas, “the report says. If the waterproofing is not replaced” in the near future, the extent of concrete deterioration will increase exponentially, “the report says today. ‘hui.

The company recommended that damaged slabs be replaced in what would be a major repair. Some of the concrete damage in the parking lot was minor, while other columns had exposed and damaged rebar. He also noted that many of the building’s previous attempts to repair columns and other damage with epoxy (a special resin) were tainted with poor workmanship and failed under the pool deck “where the slab had been. With the epoxy, new cracks were radiated from the originally repaired cracks, ”the report said.

These are all issues that should have been resolved quicklyGregg Schlesinger, a construction defect lawyer and former construction project engineer, was quoted by local press.

“The building speaks to us. It tells us we have a serious problem,” Schlesinger said. “They (for building managers, editor’s note) they kicked the box on the road. Maintenance was inadequate. All of these were red flags that needed to be dealt with and that weren’t done, ”he said.

In a statement, Morabito Consultants confirmed that its report “detailed severe cracks and breaks in concrete, which required repairs to ensure the safety of residents and the public. “The company said it was rehired in June 2020 by Champlain Towers South to begin the 40-year recertification process that would detail the work to be done.