Residents asked to evacuate 14-story Miami building in area where condo collapse killed 98 in 2021
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA: Residents of a 14-story Miami building, Port Royale, on the same street where a Surfside building collapsed killing 98 people in 2021, were forced to evacuate on Thursday evening, October 27, after officials said the structure was unsafe and instructed the residents to leave. A report from the building's structural engineer prompted the evacuation notice of the 164-unit structure at 6969 Collins Avenue, which is in process of undergoing a 50-year recertification, reports CBS.
According to Miami Herald, Miami Beach spokesperson Melissa Berthier on October 27 at 4 pm said that the city planned to post an unsafe structure notice and order residents of the Port Royale building to vacate immediately. Around 5 pm, the condo board sent residents a mandatory notice to vacate by 7 pm. Katie, 27, a renter, said, "I got here at like 5:15 and everybody was scrambling. I was super confused." She said that she has packed for two weeks and planned to drive to her parents’ house in Palm Beach County. However, she added, "Luckily I have a place to stay, but it’s definitely not ideal. I work in Miami."
Gladys Martin, 78, who planned to stay at a friend’s house, said, "A lot of people have lived here for a very long time." She further said, pointing at the building’s general appearance compared to other, more modern structures in the area, "Look at this building. Look at the others.” As per Local10, the residents said the city of Miami Beach officials informed them on October 26 that the building would need to be evacuated, but the notice to leave immediately wasn't delivered until October 27.
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Commenting on the evacuation, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said, "We take issues of building safety with utmost priority and won’t compromise the safety of our residents and visitors," as stated by Local10. Marsh Markaj, a construction worker, said he noticed problems with the building two years ago and he had videos and photos to prove it. He said, “Cracks in the column, cracks in the base, in the garage, behind the pool, everywhere,” Markaj said. “It’s not possible to fix this; I don’t think so.” Allyn Kilsheimer, a nationally-renowned expert who investigated the collapse in Surfside, said, "If the beam they are talking about was a girder that was supporting a column or a girder that was supporting other beams then that becomes something you worry about more. If the movement has been in a day or two then I think it probably is a very reasonable thing to get the people out of the building."
Surfside building collapse
Champlain Towers South, a 12-story residential building in Miami-Dade County, partially collapsed overnight on June 24, 2021. The rest of the building was demolished 10 days later due to concerns over structural integrity. The condominium collapse killed 98 people.