Collapsed condo tower’s ‘sister building’ has not been evacuated. That could change.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
People who live in the ”sister building” of the partially collapsed condo tower in Surfside might be temporarily evacuated out of an abundance of caution, said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“It was built at the same time with the same designer, so they are looking at working with them, and I know they are considering potentially evacuating them, but that’s something that ultimately the mayor is going to have to make the call on,” DeSantis said.
“I don’t know if there’s indications that there’s any problems with that building, but just given the similarities, given the same age, they think that that may be something,” he added.
The collapsed Champlain Towers South Condo at 8777 Collins Ave., just north of Miami Beach, was built in 1981 by a group of developers, Champlain Towers South Associates, that included the late philanthropist Nathan Reiber.
About a block away to the north is its slightly smaller sister building, Champlain Towers North Condo, which was built at the same time and is also 12 stories tall.
‘Major error’ was flagged in 2018 inspection report of collapsed building near Miami Beach
If residents are temporarily evacuated, it would be “out of an abundance of caution,” to check the structure’s safety, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told NBC6.
Burkett told the Miami Herald that North tower residents who want to move out after seeing Thursday’s tragedy can do so with FEMA assistance.
But the town of Surfside isn’t making anybody move yet.
“There seems to be a consensus that we don’t want to make anybody do anything,” Burkett said. “What we want to do is give them options and make them feel safe. And keep them safe.”
Burkett said the city “will talk to the condo board and make them aware of our concerns.”
DeSantis said Burkett could make an announcement later Saturday on whether an evacuation would be needed.
This article will be updated.
‘Is my building safe?’ Experts say whether you should worry about another collapse
