A week after the collapse of the Miami-area building, search and rescue teams paused their operations because of fears that the other half of the building may collapse.

Miami-Area Building Update

Daniella Levina Cava, Miami-Dade County Mayor, has said that the operations need to be stopped for "concerns about the standing structure." However, she said that the families of the missing were already informed about it. She went on and said that it would proceed as soon as it's safe.

Fire Chief Alan R. Cominsky said that there had been slight movements in the concrete floor slabs located in the northern and southern corners of the building, which could cause additional structural failure if moved even more. As a result, they had to stop the operation around 2:00 A.M. on the morning of July 1.

Another cause of concern is that Tropical Storm Elsa over the Atlantic might gain landfall and impede search and rescue efforts. The crews have been tackling bad weather since the operation began a little while after the building's collapse last Thursday, June 24.

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Search and Rescue News

It has been a week since the rescue efforts discovered a survivor. There are still over 145 people unaccounted for in the building's wreckage. 

On Wednesday, June 30, the last known report was when rescue workers discovered two bodies of children ages four and ten that brought the confirmed death toll of the incident to 18.

Levina Cava said in a press release, "Any loss of life, especially given the unexpected, unprecedented nature of this event, is a tragedy ... But the loss of our children is too great to bear.

The investigation is Still On-Going

A team sent out by the National Institute of Standards and Technology has been at the site for days and has confirmed that it meets the criteria for a more in-depth federal investigation to be involved. The agency went on record saying that there are already millions of high-rise condos in Florida alone, and that is ancient in design.

While the NIST investigation aims to identify the cause of the Champlain Towers South incident, it will possibly uncover other issues related to other buildings in nature that need a more thorough inspection. The investigation might give way to a much larger issue in building integrity all across the nation.

The investigation has no set timeline and would most likely take years to complete.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are set to visit Surfside on Thursday, July 1, to talk to the family members who survived and those still missing. Then plans to thank the search and rescue teams for their efforts. President Biden didn't come sooner as a White House representative said that he was concerned his visit would affect search and rescue efforts.

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Written by Alec G.