Engineer found structural damage at FL condo
Rescue workers in Florida have been working around the clock in a race to find survivors in the massive condominium building collapse that has over a hundred people unaccounted for.
And now, a newly-released report shows an engineer found major structural damage in the building three years ago.
Officials in Surfside, near Miami, released the 2018 report which said that an engineer named Frank Morabito warned the waterproofing installed below the pool deck had failed due to a major design error. It also said the underground parking garage’s concrete columns, beams and walls showed, quote, “abundant cracking,” including areas beneath the pool.
Morabito could not be reached for comment.
His firm produced the report for the condo board which was preparing to undertake a major repair project this year at the building. It’s not clear yet whether the damage cited in the report is connected to the building’s collapse.
Meanwhile, rescue efforts continue.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Division Chief Danny Cardeso is expressing hope:
“All of our training tells us that for at least the first 72 hours there is a high likelihood that people that can be alive in there.”
The disaster occurred early Thursday morning when a large section of the 40-year-old building crumbled to the ground without warning as most residents slept.
There have been only a handful of confirmed deaths, but the toll is certain to rise.
