You're deep in sleep and suddenly you're falling

[malaise]

Sometimes that dream wakes us up, but imagine if you were in that building and you never find out if it was a dream because you die so quickly.

And yes I hope they all died before they actually woke up.
Tell those you love that you love them because we don't know what's coming next.

[Corgigal]

1. Like you,

I so hope it was quick. Did you see the bunk beds? The two mattress were tilled just a bit towards the edge. Breaks my heart.

[malaise]

2. That made it real

So sad

[Klaralven]

3. The building collapsed in two stages, so likely the people in the seafront condos woke up

The noise from the central section collapse should have awakened them as their section swayed for about 10 seconds and collapsed.

[malaise]

5. Must have been terrifying for those who were awake

Hope it was quick

[bucolic_frolic]

4. They do bridge inspections. How about high-rise buildings? /nt

[murielm99]

7. I have been reading that this building was

undergoing a routine inspection at this time. It needed a forty-year certification.

[sop]

15. The county created the 40-year re-certification inspection program for older structures built before

newer building codes were put in place following Hurricane Andrew. All older structures must be re-certified for occupancy every 40 years, single-family dwellings and smaller buildings are exempt. Older buildings found defective during the 40-year re-certification are required to make the necessary repairs or lose their certificates of occupancy.

The required repairs for re-certification are usually very expensive, and have to be paid for by the condo association. If serious structural issues are found, each unit owner could be responsible for tens of thousands of dollars, or more. Insurance will not cover these repairs. Each individual unit owner is assessed their share of the cost, depending on the size of their unit. These costs are added to each unit owner's monthly maintenance fees by way of a special assessment.

Many associations contest the re-certification requirements, arguing expensive repairs are not needed. The special assessments for each unit are passed on to buyers if/when the unit is sold, often making the condo unsalable. I owned a unit in an older, 11-storey building required to perform extensive structural repairs after the 40-year re-certification. The residents voted to sell the property rather than rebuild the structure or go to court to fight the requirements. Luckily, our waterfront property was worth a lot of money, so individual unit owners made out ok.

I suspect most of the older condos will be required to make extensive and expensive structural repairs now, particularly following the collapse of this building in Surfside. This will lead to many older structures being torn down and replaced by much larger, more expensive buildings. That's the way things work in South Florida.

[Evolve Dammit]

9. I suspect most citiies have inspection programs, with lots of variability?

[spanone]

8. K&R

[kentuck]

10. So horrific.

And now the number of unaccounted for has gone up. Very sad.

[malaise]

13. The collapse took 15 seconds

PHEW!

[mitch96]

11. "they all died before they actually woke up. " THAT would be a blessing..

As the lyrics go.. "And the best you can hope for is to die in your sleep"
m

[malaise]

12. If only you knew how popular that song was

on this island - it's the truth

[H2O Man]

14. Recommended.

It is just so horrible. And you are correct -- communicate with loved ones. And do not take life for granted.