Good question; this was in the early '90s, and I would guess it was at least 20 years old, and could very well have been a bit older, at that point.
We have more than one resident saying there was noise or vibration in the building prior to the pool deck collapse.
Sara Nir said there were loud noises in the building like a wall falling over and and Cassondra Stratton said the building was shaking before the deck collapsed.
Nir eventually found the building’s security guard, and as she complained about the noise, she said, they heard a boom. She ran toward the sound and witnessed the building’s underground garage collapse. Cite.. She had time to run with her children.
I wonder what the person videoing the garage entrance heard and if that person saw Nir and her children running.
The person who did the garage entrance video was actually staying at the building across the street and was on the opposite side of Champlain Towers from the pool and deck so they wouldn’t have see that collapse. If Nir saw the deck collapse then she was also on the opposite side of the building from the people filming the garage entrance. Presumably, Nir would have exited from the nearest available door to the outside prior to running across the street. This would almost certainly not have been visible to someone filming the entry to the garage.
The problems with the cracked slab under the pool deck date back to 1996. Evidence of that repair could be seen in the garage video posted a couple days ago. There was evidence of the urethane sealant they applied in the ceiling.
Some assistance for the emergency workers:
Do you suppose they will rename the North tower? Assuming it doesn’t end up having to come down for some reason.
Nir lived on the ground floor. It’s hard to tell from her description if she saw the pool deck collapse or the garage. She ran 4 blocks down the street so it would depend which direction they ran as to whether they were seen by the people who were videoing it from the hotel on the garage entrance side.
The garage was underground. Part was under the building itself, and part was under the pool deck. The only way to “see the garage collapse” would be to see the pool deck/garage roof part collapse, which was on the opposite of the building from where the video of the ramp going down into the garage (garage entrance) was filmed.
Golden retrievers are an excellent choice. They want to slobber you to death as you pet them. A neighbor had one and the dog was practically dancing in place as he waited for the okay to approach me then rushed me as soon as he got it.
Maybe the carpets had just been shampooed, but the presence of that single blower outside the unit being shown was a bit chilling, especially knowing how many residents had complained of leaks and other moisture issues.
No, I don’t think that’s true. It appears large pieces were falling from the garage entrance view. She was on the ground floor and heard a great deal of noise associated with the building. If she walked past the entrance she would have seen it coming apart. Her statements aren’t specific enough. I hope she does additional interviews.
I’m a little surprised the parking garage was underground, given that that it’s so close to shoreline. Doesn’t the underground level get flooded during storms? I know in coastal communities in Connecticut and elsewhere, people are jacking up houses on the shore. So why wouldn’t they have built this so the parking garage is at sea level and the lobby level a couple of stories up?
How far back did they start jacking up the buildings? Less than 40 years ago, I imagine.
Can you clarify what you mean by that?
In the post above mine, there was a question as to why this building had an underground garage, noting that buildings near shore are often jacked up (above ground level). I asked when they started doing that, and speculated it was after this building was built.
That doesn’t quite jibe with her statement that she ran from the building across Collins Street - the garage entrance wasn’t on Collins, you had to turn onto 88th Street to get to the garage entrance.
Apparently a lot of the condos in the area have underground parking. Presumably, all of those basements had sump pumps or the like (one of the reports on the collapsed condo mentioned the need to replace pumps more often than expected due to water in the sub-level.) Not sure how that worked out with being so close to the ocean and the possibility of storm surges.
As to why underground… parking structures are not usually considered attractive. It was likely an aesthetic choice.
We rented a condo in Hallandale during Christmas 2019. This is about 10 miles due north of the Champlain Tower, directly on the beach. There was a mix of surface, above ground, and under ground parking.
There were very heavy storms that year - people were actually kayaking at Gulfstream Park, the local race course on the track. The garage filled up with about 3-4 feet of water and took days to drain down.
I’m not saying your scenario is wrong. I’m saying her recount of it wasn’t specific. She could be describing the garage under the building as viewed from the ground floor entrance. She describes multiple events by sound and sight.
Between the 2 eyewitness accounts it sounds like the building was shaking, loud noises were heard, and then the deck by the pool drops. What is pointed out in the engineer’s study of this is that the video of the building collapsing starts AFTER it is 1 story shorter. There may have been a pause with the garage level collapse. If the security camera that caught this is motion sensitive then either the dust from the pool deck collapse started it or the initial drop started it and we don’t see it.
Found a cite that clarifies what Sara Nir said. She was in the lobby when she saw the pool area collapse. paywall link. She must have walked right over the same area on her way to the lobby minutes or seconds before it collapsed. .
She asked the security guard to broadcast an alert which he did. Sadly it was too late to save anyone.