When: Sunday — 1:22 am, June 24, 2021
Where: Surfside, Florida
What: Tragic Collapse / Catastrophic Failure of Champlain Towers South
- 12 story beachfront condominium
- Built 1981 — 40 years ago
- 35 were rescued from the uncollapsed portion
- 98 people died
- ages 4-92 [4]
- There was no earthquake, terrorist attack, or gas explosion
- “One of the deadliest building failures in modern history” [1]
- The problem was reported and there were warnings about the seriousness of the situation. [3]
- A deep pit was created, which was125 feet long and 40 feet deep.
- Over 200 people at one time worked on finding people in the rubble.
- The main contributing factor — water and corrosion of the steel — the degradation of the steel-reinforced concrete supports located in the ground-level parking garage.
- Problems were reported in 2018
- “Much worse” was the evaluation, April 2021
- The estimated cost of addressing the degradation was $15 million in April 2021
- Other factors which contributed to the collapse include a downward vertical movement of the ground, an insufficient amount of reinforcing steel, air pockets in the cement supports allowing for faster erosion of the steel, insufficient column size not allowing for additional steel to be used in the columns, and possibly corruption when it was constructed.
- “After the June 24 collapse of the Miami condo in Surfside, Florida, reports are alleging fraud on part of developers of the building, revealing they once paid off local officials to get permits for the site.” [2]
Key Biblical Thoughts:
- reported dangers
- warnings
- collapse
- lives lost
- rescued
- warning signs
- greed
- corruption
- disaster
- built on rock / sand
- danger
- tragedy
- escatology
- evangelism
- soul-winning
- the Great Commission
Sermonic Example: Video
Pastor Willie Rice, Calvary Baptist Church
Other Information & Links:
1. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/special-reports/surfside-investigation/article256633336.html
“The crucial members in the building and designing of the tower are all dead, the publication reveals. One of the developers was Nathan Reiber who had been charged with tax evasion and cited for legal misconduct, according to the report. Accused of skimming cash from apartment buildings owned by him and his partners, Reiber had fled from Canada to Florida where he and his partners were unable to begin construction of condo buildings due to a faulty sewers moratorium. But they agreed to pay half of the $400,000 tab for the sewer repairs to get the green light on their project, while their furious rivals had to stay stalled due to the prohibition.”
3. https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/condo-board-boss-warned-worsening-damage-collapse-78563308
“Weeks before a Florida condo building collapsed, the president of its board wrote that structural problems identified in a 2018 inspection had “gotten significantly worse” and owners needed to pay a hefty price to get them fixed.
The April 9 “Dear Neighbors” letter from Champlain Towers South Condominium President Jean Wodnicki hinted at an ongoing debate over the repairs and a reluctance by some condo owners to pay for major work that would cost at least $15.5 million.
A lot of this work could have been done or planned for in years gone by. But this is where we are now,” she wrote in the letter, which was confirmed to The Associated Press by a spokesman for the condo board.
Wodnicki noted costs had increased since an October 2018 report by engineering firm Morabito Consultants first identified key issues with weakening concrete, and she predicted they would only grow more if put off any longer.
“Indeed the observable damage such as in the garage has gotten significantly worse since the initial inspection,” Wodnicki wrote. “The concrete deterioration is accelerating.”
“It is impossible to know the extent of the damage to the underlying rebar until the concrete is opened up. Oftentimes the damage is more extensive than can be determined by inspection of the surface,” she wrote.
She added, “I acknowledge that we are talking about a huge project and a very large assessment. The longer we wait, the higher the bids will be.”
4. https://abcnews.go.com/US/victims-surfside-condo-collapse/story?id=78517075
AND
https://abcnews.go.com/US/surfside-building-collapse-latest-12-dead-149-missing/story?id=78574497
— https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfside_condominium_collapse
— https://meaww.com/who-are-survivors-of-champlain-towers-surfside-building-collapse
— https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/29/us/florida-condo-shaking-construction-invs/index.html
— The collapse visualized: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/special-reports/surfside-investigation/article256633336.html
— https://abcnews.go.com/US/victims-surfside-condo-collapse/story?id=78517075
RhetoricAndHomiletics.Org 