Thread by @RealSpikeCohen

You've probably already heard of the absolute travesty that happened in Florida a few weeks ago.

The collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside has left at least 95 dead, many more temporarily homeless, and the rest of us horrified and wondering how this happened.

As it turns out, the government knew this was going to happen for decades.

Champlain Towers South was built in 1981, and engineers examining the wreckage are noting that it has much less structural steel at critical points in the structural base than required to get approval.

What's worse, since at least the 1990s, everyone involved knew it was sinking. 30 yrs ago, the building manager noted seeing “a lot of saltwater come in through the bottom of the foundation, so much water, all the time, that the pumps never could keep up with it.”

What did officials do?

From what we can tell, nothing.

In 2018, an engineering consultant hired by the building’s condo board discovered cracks, breaks, & crumbling in the structural concrete, known as spalling, and estimated the cost of the repairs to be around $9 million.

So what did officials do?

Worse than nothing.

Surfside building official Rosendo Prieto was told about this damage, reviewed the structural engineer's report, and said that "it appears the building is in very good shape."

miami.cbslocal.com/2021/06/20/con…

The day after the meeting, Prieto wrote in an email to Town Manager Guillermo Olmedillo that "it went very well...The response was very positive from everyone in the room...All main concerns over their 40-year recertification process were addressed."

Officials knew this thing was in a shambles, and they told the public, including residents that everything was fine.

In 2019, condo board member Mara Chouela, emailed Prieto hoping to raise a red flag about nearby construction causing more damage to the already-damaged building.

"We are concerned that the construction next to Surfside is too close" she wrote. "The terra project on Collins and 87 are digging too close to our property and we have concerns regarding the structure of our building."

msn.com/en-in/news/oth…

Prieto responded "there is nothing for me to check".

In April of 2021, the president of the condo board sent a letter to all owners warning that the deterioration was accelerating, and warned that the cost of fixing the damage "would begin to multiply exponentially."

What did officials do?

Take a guess...

2 days before the collapse, a pool contractor discovered severe damage in the basement-level garage, and even took photos of it.

We aren't sure yet if they were notified. But if they were, what do you think they would have done anyway?

We are told that the reason for government-mandated building codes and inspectors is to keep us safe. But how are we kept safe by unaccountable officials who ignore damage and assure us that everything is fine?

Why not instead have developers and board members held accountable directly to residents? Had that been the case, they would've known decades before, and these folks would still be alive.

We want safe, well-constructed homes and other buildings. Government proves itself time and again to be a terrible way to assure that.