News You Should Know

6 Things to Know: Families Hoping for Answers After Surfside Condo Collapse

It’s Monday, June 28th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day

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It’s Monday, June 28th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.

No. 1 - Rescue efforts continued around-the-clock as the search for survivors enters its fifth day Monday at the site of the condo collapse in Surfside.

At a news briefing Sunday, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced the death toll had risen to 9. During an evening briefing, she said the number of people missing was reduced to 152. DNA samples from family members are being gathered to help identify human remains also found at the site. The Miami-Dade Police Department identified four additional victims of the Surfside condo collapse as Leon Oliwkowicz, 80; Luis Bermudez, 26; Anna Ortiz; 46; and Christina Beatriz Elvira, 74. Four other victims were previously identified as Stacie Dawn Fang, 54; Antonio Lozano, 83; Gladys Lozano, 79; and Manuel LaFont, 54.

No. 2 - The mayor of the town of Surfside said this weekend that he would like to temporarily evacuate residents from the Champlain Towers North building in order to give engineers time to check the safety of its structure.

Mayor Charles Burkett said he has discussed temporarily evacuating residents with Senator Rick Scott and Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. Burkett said an evacuation would be “out of an abundance of caution,” to ensure the safety of the structure. Rescuers used both heavy equipment and their own hands to comb through the wreckage of the collapsed Champlain Towers South condominium in an increasingly desperate search for survivors.

No. 3 - In October 2018, the Champlain South Condominium Association got some concerning news from the engineer it hired to conduct a field survey of the building: "failed waterproofing is causing major structural damage" to concrete below the pool deck and a planter in an area that was not draining properly.

The report, from Morabito Consultants, is included in hundreds of pages the Town of Surfside released last Friday in response to public records requests from media, including the NBC 6 Investigators. Also, in the documents was an inspection report submitted by Morabito to the town more than 16 hours after the collapse, a document the town noted was "unverified" and "not formally submitted or authorized by the property owner Champlain Towers South Condominium Association, Inc.," as required by Miami-Dade County Code. To hear what else the report said, click here for the story from NBC 6 investigator Tony Pipitone.

No. 4 - A new makeshift memorial for those who remain unaccounted for at the Champlain Towers South collapse is up on the corner of Byron Avenue and 93rd Street in Surfside. 

It started with just one bouquet of flowers. Then residents dropped off more flowers and hung up t-shirts with the names of those unaccounted for, along with their unit numbers. Another makeshift memorial on 88th Street and Harding Avenue that is closer to the scene has been closed off to the public due to concerns over the air quality in the area. To hear why the organizers felt these memorials were needed, click here for the story from NBC 6 News.

No. 5 - When Steve Rosenthal hugs Michael Capponi, it’s an embrace filled with gratitude. 

He’s a survivor of the Champlain Towers collapse. Now he’s receiving aid from Capponi’s Global Empowerment Mission. The non-profit group is giving everyone who has lost their homes $1,500 in prepaid credit cards, along with a care package that contains an electric toothbrush, socks, phone chargers, and other basic necessities. It’s just some of the generosity going around after the disaster. Click here for more on that story from NBC 6 reporter Ari Odzer.

No. 6 – In other local news, the Celebrity Edge set sail on Saturday evening for a week-long cruise, with passengers, the first cruise ship to do so in the United States since the coronavirus pandemic began.

Passengers waited excitedly at Port Everglades. The billion-dollar ship is the first cruise ship with passengers to leave the U.S. after a 15 month pause. Port officials say more cruises are on the way. To hear why those people onboard feel safe taking the cruise, click here for the story from NBC 6 reporter Marcine Joseph.

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