On June 24, part of the 13-story Surfside condominium in Miami, Florida, collapsed. A search and rescue had started once a part of the building fell to the ground. The primary reason for the collapse proves to be from the weak structure of the building. Last year, the building was experiencing sinking, which was unique to that Miami area, as the buildings were built on wetlands. Although it was probably not the primary reason, the sinking could have been a possible factor in the collapse. Despite the inspection last year, nothing such as this collapse could have been predicted. Also, the building was undergoing work on the concrete roof, but it is unclear if that was a factor to the collapse. At the time, an engineer determined that the only repair this building needed was a roof replacement.
As of the morning of July 2, the fatalities have risen to 20 after a Miami firefighter's seven-year old girl was pronounced dead on July 2. The number of those unaccounted for has gone down to 128. Ever since the collapse, there have been proposals to increase the regulations and requirements for buildings to prevent this type of collapse from happening again. The firefighting team is determined to find every single victim, so families can have some closure. Unfortunately, the team's efforts may end up stopping due to the upcoming Hurricane Elsa.
While the mayor of Miami did not sign a state of emergency until the next afternoon, Governor Desantis signed the state of emergency an hour after the collapse occurred. On July 2, it was announced that the Fourth of July fireworks event has been canceled out of respect for the victims.
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