The search for missing people in the Champlain Towers South condominium will be put on pause as the remainder of the building is set to be demolished in preparation for the arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa.
Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed the media about the safety aspect of leaving the remaining portion of the building standing.
“We have a building here in surfside that is tottering, it’s structurally unsound, and although the eye of the storm is not likely to pass over this direction, you could feel gusts in this area,” DeSantis said.
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Elsa is set to hit the U.S. as soon as Monday, and while the brunt of the storm is not expected to be in the Surfside area, there is still a chance of high winds that could cause it to collapse.
By moving forward with the demolition, the building will come down in a controlled manner, removing the risk of it damaging surrounding buildings.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava signed an order calling for the immediate demolition of the building, and contractors were present on Saturday making their plan for what remains standing.
According to Reuters, the remainder of the building will be brought down with controlled explosives instead of a wrecking ball. The building will be brought down in a westward direction to steer it away from the existing pile, where officials hope to resume the search for people soon.
The mayor of Surfside, Charles Burkett, said on Sunday morning that preparations to demolish the remainder of the building were about 80 percent complete, according to The New York Times.
“We need to get this building taken down, and we need to move forward with the rescue of all those people that are still left in the rubble,” Mayor Burkett said.
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The search for those lost in the pile of rubble halted Saturday afternoon, with the official death count reaching 24 people with 121 still missing, presumably somewhere in the pile of concrete, according to Burkett.
According to Levine Cava, officials are still working to determine the exact timing of the demolition.
“What is being looked at is something of tremendous consequence,” Ms. Levine Cava said. “It needs to be done very carefully, very thoughtfully.”
With the rush to get the demolition done before the storm arrives, federal investigators have been mobilized to gather as much evidence as possible about the current state of the building and any causes of the collapse before it is brought down, Levina Cava said.
She also said that no additional evacuations will be needed; however, the adjacent buildings that have already been evacuated and nearby lots will be cleared of people when the demolition occurs.