Why did Angela Gonzalez suddenly found herself falling four floors when her condominium building near Miami partially collapsed Thursday?
Despite suffering a broken pelvis during the fall, of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Fla., Gonzalez managed to save her 16-year-old daughter Devon from the rubble, according to CBS Miami. Edgar, her husband and Devon’s father, remains unaccounted for.
As of Friday morning, there were four confirmed deaths related to the collapse, 127 people accounted for and 159 unaccounted for. Out of 136 units in the building, 55 were completely destroyed.
"It's been tough, its been gut-wrenching," said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis of the collapse during a Friday afternoon press conference. He previously declared a state of emergency for the rescue effort.
An investigation into the collapse is pending while emergency rescue crews continue to comb the site for survivors. However, some theories have been offered as to why the 40-year-old structure would give way.
According to Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, the cause of the collapse is a “structural engineering question.” An NPR report said that concrete spalling and land subsidence could be factors.
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Greg Batista, an engineer who spoke to the Miami Herald said he suspects concrete spalling impacted the 12-story structure. Concrete spalling describes the process of salt water seeping into concrete and causing steel elements in the concrete to rust and create iron oxide, which then causes steel to expand, according to Robson Forensics firm.
Surfside is located north of Miami Beach on a strip of land surrounded by ocean water and Champlain Towers South is less than a mile from Atlantic Ocean shores.
“In coastal regions (areas adjacent to bodies of saltwater), the salt-laden air continuously deposits salt on the surface of the concrete member,” said Robson Forensics.
Another possible factor addressed by NPR is land subsidence, described by the United States Geological Survey as a phenomenon that “occurs when large amounts of groundwater have been withdrawn from certain types of rocks, such as fine-grained sediments,” causing rock to fall in on itself. Sinkholes are an example of land subsidence, though the impact can be subtle over a large area.
According to a study conducted last year found land subsidence in Miami Beach, near Surfside.
Reports say the building was expected to be part of a mandatory 40-year recertification in Miami-Dade County. An engineer had been hired to work on the recertification.
A resident of Champlain Towers South, the Florida high-rise condo that partially collapsed, filed a class-action lawsuit less than 24 hours after nearly half the building was reduced to rubble.
A class-action lawsuit filed late Thursday night filed by Manuel Drezner in Miami-Dade County claims that the Champlain Towers South Condominium Association Inc. “failed to adequately secure the building, placing the lives and property of its occupants and visitors ... at risk resulting in the collapse of the building,” NBC reported.
According to the suit, its purpose is to “compensate the victims of this unfathomable loss.”
Donations for victims such as Angela Gonzalez and her family are also being accepted at supportsurfside.org and the Shul of Bal Harbour.
Levine Cava said Friday afternoon that around $100,000 in donations have been collected and that the federal government was providing support for the tragedy.