President Joe Biden arrived in South Florida Thursday to console family members still awaiting word about 145 people still believed buried under the rubble of the Champlain Towers South condo building, which collapsed during early hours precisely one week ago.
Mere hours before before Air Force One, bearing the president, First Lady Jill Biden, and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, touched down at Miami International Airport, local officials had been forced to halt search and rescue operations because “the pile” had become too unstable for them to to continue.
“We’re doing everything we can to ensure that the safety of our first responders is paramount and to continue our search and rescue operations as soon as it is safe to do so,” Miami Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said during a news conference.
During a meeting with state and local officials organizing the response, Biden appeared to offer to pay all costs of the operation, according to a pool report. U.S. Sen. Rick Scott also attended.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Biden said, urging those at the table to “tell me what you need.”
The president met privately with family members at an area hotel and planned a speech later in the day.
During that family meeting, Biden made brief remarks then circulated among tables holding private conversations, as did the first lady, governor, and other elected officials, according to the pool report. The president stayed until everyone had a chance to talk with him.
The death count remained at 18, including two children, with 145 people unaccounted for, Cava said.
It wasn’t clear whether the president and first lady would visit the disaster site. The White House had expressed concern about letting his visit interfere with search and recovery operations. But conditions at the site had already done that.
“I want to stress that President Biden’s visit today will have no impact on what happens at the site. The search and rescue operations will continue as soon as it is safe to do so. The only reason for this pause is concerns about the standing structure,” Cava said.
Fire and Rescue chief Alan Cominsky timed the stop-work order at 2:11 a.m. He cited “six to 12 inches of movement in a large column hanging from the structure that could fall and cause damage” to another support column.
Additionally, he noted “slight movement” in a concrete floor slab and “movement in the debris pile.”
“We have already informed the families this morning, who are waiting and waiting, about this development, and we have worked to answer all the questions that they have about the operation,” Cava said.
State engineers were helping to map a path toward resumption of work, DeSantis said.
“Obviously, we believe that continuing searching is something that’s very, very important,” he said. “We’re going to provide whatever resources they need to be able to allow the searches to continue.”
During his meeting at the hotel with about 50 first responders, Biden spoke softly, according to the pool report.
“What you’re doing now is just hard as hell to deal with, even psychologically, to deal with. And I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Biden said.
“As you all know, it’s not only what you’re dealing with now, but your brothers and sisters across this country are having more pressure put on them because of the drought [in the West], more pressure because of, we have 121 degree heat up in Vancouver, you know you got a problem,” he continued.
“Until we need you, no one fully appreciates what you do. But I promise you — we know. We know. What you’re doing here is incredible, having to deal with the uncertainty, and worrying about the families.”
During the earlier meeting, DeSantis — usually a harsh critic of the president — shared some praise.
“You recognized the severity of this tragedy from day one and you’ve been very supportive,” the governor said.
“We’ve had no bureaucracy,” DeSantis said, in securing federal aid. “We thank you for the support … What we just need now is a little bit of luck, a little bit of prayer … we’re not going to stop until we identify everybody.”
Cava thanked the president for coming and for the swift federal response, calling it “an incredible collaboration.”
Meanwhile, state officials were monitoring Tropical Storm Elsa, which has formed in the Atlantic Ocean and was headed toward the Caribbean Thursday. South Florida might feel its effects by Monday, DeSantis said.
The Florida Department of Transportation has removed nearly 14,000 tons of debris from the site, the governor said.
In a poignant moment, Cominsky described how when first responders conducted their initial search underneath the structure they heard “audible sounds.”
“They were searching for a female voice, is what we heard, for several hours. Eventually, we didn’t hear a voice anymore. We continued searching,” he said.
“That’s emphasizing the magnitude of what we’re going through. You know, the efforts that all our fire and rescue personnel, everyone that’s here on scene, trying to do the best we can in this heroic effort. And yes, unfortunately, we didn’t have success with that,” he said.
The post Biden meets with families, first responders in Surfside condo collapse as dangerous conditions stall search first appeared on Daily Florida Press.
from Daily Florida Press https://dailyfloridapress.com/biden-meets-with-families-first-responders-in-surfside-condo-collapse-as-dangerous-conditions-stall-search/
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