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A looming hurricane making its way through South Florida is providing yet another challenge for rescue teams responding to the scene of a deadly partially collapsed building in the Surfside town of Miami-Dade County, Florida.
Hurricane Elsa has the town in its extended forecast cone as rescuers continue to work through the rubble of the Champlain Towers South condominium, which experienced a partial collapse on June 24, resulting in 18 confirmed deaths and 145 individuals still unaccounted for, CNN reports.
Responders are also concerned about the integrity of the condominium that's still standing as work was postponed Thursday so engineers could asses the structure.
Access to the collapse zone was restricted Thursday amid safety concerns as engineers conducted tests to expand the search, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava confirmed during an update Thursday night.
Officials estimated it could take several weeks for the rest of the building to be demolished, though Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis said the demolition "might be sooner than we're anticipating" due to heavier equipment needed and potential complications to the weight that keeps the still-standing parts of the condominium in place.
"To finish the mission, the building will have to go," Patronis said. "It's just too much of a risk."
An email obtained by the Miami Herald showed Ross Prieto, who resigned from his post last year, reviewed the engineer's report after being forward a copy from condo board member Mara Chouela two days prior.
An email posted on the town's website revealed Chouela sent Prieto two reports: the "structural field survey report conducted by engineer Frank Morabito of Morabito Consultants in October 2018 and a mechanical and electrical engineering report by Thomas E. Henz. P.E.
Additionally, Chouela introduced Prieto at a meeting with five of the seven board members, which was also attended by property manager Alexandria Santamaria, condo board lawyer Marilyn Perez and condominium residents interested in participating in the building's recreation room.
Records released Sunday showed Prieto sent an email to then-town manager Guillermo Olmedillo on the morning after the meeting to report it "went very well" and that "the response was very positive from everyone in the room," adding that he was impressed with the proactive approach of the condo association to its upcoming required 40-year recertification, the Herald reports.
Prieto told the Herald last Saturday (June 26) that he didn't remember receiving the report or recall the email from Chouela, who also shared cost estimates for the repair work during the conversation.
Prieto claimed he was unaware that the town had received the report, which detailed flaws to the building nearly three years prior to Thursday's (June 24) deadly partial collapse.
“I don’t know anything about it,” Prieto said. “That’s 2018.”
The structural field survey conducted by Morabito revealed evidence of "major structural damage" to the concrete slab below the pool deck and "abundant" cracking and crumbling of the columns, beams and walls of the parking garage under the building, the New York Times reports.
The field survey led to plans for a multimillion-dollar repair project that was scheduled to begin soon -- more than two and a half years after the building managers received a warning -- prior to the collapse on Thursday.
The complex's management association had disclosed some of the problems following the incident on Thursday, but the full nature of the concrete and rebar damage was not made public until the 2018 report was released by city officials last Friday (June 25).
“Though some of this damage is minor, most of the concrete deterioration needs to be repaired in a timely fashion,” the consultant, Frank Morabito, wrote about damage to the building in the 2018 report.
Morabito didn't give any indication that the structure was at risk of collapse, but did note that it needed repairs in order to maintain "the structural integrity" of the building and its 136 condos.
Officials told NBC Miami that residents were being moved to the Surfside Community Center and all streets in the area of the collapse were closed.
The Champlain Towers South Condos are located at 8777 Collins Avenue and were built in 1981.