(NEW YORK) — Tropical Storm Elsa is now charging up the East Coast after making landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast Wednesday, causing at least one death and miles of destruction, according to officials.
Elsa made landfall at about 11 a.m. Wednesday in Taylor County, in Florida’s Big Bend region.
Elsa, which slammed Florida and Georgia with gusty winds and heavy rain, strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane Tuesday night before weakening back to a tropical storm before landfall.
The storm churned two tornadoes Wednesday evening and tornado watches were issued from Jacksonville, Florida, to Charleston, South Carolina, Wednesday night.
One person was killed after a tornado was reported in Jacksonville, according to Mayor Lenny Curry. A tree fell on the victim when the storm swept through the city, Curry said.
Curry said there were no other major injuries reported as of Wednesday evening but several homes and businesses were damaged and over 11,000 households were without power.
“Just be ready,” he told the public.
A second tornado was reported to have caused serious damage at the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in Georgia. Photos and video showed motorhomes flipped on their sides and trees uprooted.
A spokesperson for the base told ABC News about 10 people were injured. None of the injuries are believed to be life-threatening, but they were serious enough to be transported off the base, according to the spokesperson.
Slow-moving bands of heavy rain along the Georgia coast triggered dangerous flash flooding. Central Glynn County reported between 3 to 6 inches of rain Wednesday evening.
A boat capsized near Key West as Elsa blew through on Tuesday, according to the Coast Guard. Nine people remain missing.
Elsa is now barreling up the East Coast, set to bring heavy rain and flash flooding from Georgia to Maine through Friday.
The latest path shows Elsa moving over Georgia Wednesday night, South Carolina Thursday morning and North Carolina Thursday night.
Elsa is forecast to weaken to a tropical depression by Thursday morning as it brings rain and wind to Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Wilmington.
By Thursday night Elsa will be blowing through Virginia, Maryland and Delaware with heavy rain, gusty winds and flooding. Elsa will hit New Jersey overnight Thursday into Friday.
On Friday morning, Elsa will head up the Interstate 95 corridor with heavy rain and gusty winds from New York City to Boston.
(TERRE HAUTE, Ind.) — An FBI Task Force officer and 30-year police department veteran was shot and killed in the line of duty Wednesday after being ambushed outside an FBI building in Indiana, police say.
The incident occurred at approximately 2:15 p.m. local time, when FBI Task Force officer Greg Ferency was “ambushed and fatally shot” at the FBI Indianapolis Resident Agency in Terre Haute, Indiana, according to a statement from FBI Indianapolis Special Agent Paul Keenan.
Ferency had been an FBI Task Force officer since 2010 and was a 30-year veteran of the Terre Haute Police Department.
Authorities said another FBI agent was able to shoot the alleged gunman involved in the ambush. The suspect was subsequently taken into police custody and is now receiving medical attention at a local hospital.
“We want to extend our deepest sympathy to TFO Ferency’s family, friends and fellow officers,” Keenan continued in his statement.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb called Ferency’s death “senseless” in a statement on Twitter.
“The tragic events that unfolded today are senseless. Our heart breaks for Detective Greg Ferency’s family, loved ones and those who served with him every day protecting the residents of the Wabash Valley,” Holcomb said. “[My wife] and I are thinking of the Terre Haute Police Department, the community and Detective Ferency’s family as I know they will be steadfast in honoring his life, service and dedication to the residents of Vigo County.”
Indiana Sen. Mike Braun also tweeted about the tragedy and called on the public to keep Ferency’s family and colleagues in their prayers.
“Terre Haute PD Officer Greg Ferency was killed today in the line of duty doing what he has done for 30 years: selflessly protecting and serving his community. Please keep his family and fellow officers in your prayers, and all those who wear the badge,” said Braun.
Indiana Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch also expressed her condolences in a statement obtained by ABC News’ Indianapolis affiliate WRTV.
“I want to send my heartfelt prayers to Terre Haute and Hoosier law enforcement across Indiana, after learning of the violent and careless assault on Terre Haute Police Detective Greg Ferency,” said Crouch. “Attacks on the brave men and women who answer the call to be our heroes and protect our citizens and state will not be tolerated. Detective Ferency was an honorable servant, who kept drugs off our streets and partnered with federal authorities to defend Hoosiers and his community. I am keeping Ferency’s family and those who worked side by side with him during his 30 years of service in my thoughts as we come together to honor his commitment to making Indiana a safer place.”
The shooting is now under investigation by the FBI’s Inspection Division in accordance with FBI police.
“The review process is thorough and objective and is conducted as expeditiously as possible under the circumstances,” said Keenan.
(NEW YORK) — Nearly eight years after Shannon Keeler’s alleged rape after a 2013 fraternity party at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania and after receiving a series of disturbing Facebook messages from the man she’d accused, authorities have filed charges against the man.
The Adams County District Attorney’s Office announced on June 30 that it had filed sexual assault charges against Ian Thomas Cleary, 28, of Saratoga, California. Authorities, however, have not yet found Cleary or released a photo of him.
Keeler was on vacation with her boyfriend last year when she says she saw what appeared to be multiple Facebook messages from Cleary. One specific message, she said, admitted to the attack.
“So, I raped you,” Keeler said the message read in an interview with ABC News in May. “I’ll never do it to anyone ever again.”
Watch the full story on “Nightline” Thursday night at 12:35 a.m. ET on ABC
The charges were filed after what Keeler’s lawyer, Laura Dunn, says was an outpouring of support following public appearances by Keeler on news platforms, including ABC News. Dunn said they then joined forces with the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape to further push for the charges to be filed.
“Shannon burst into tears,” Dunn told ABC News on Wednesday about Keeler learning charges had been filed.
“She has been fighting for over seven years in this case to get charges — to get an arrest warrant. … So, for her, it was a big moment,” Dunn said. “But as her attorney, my mind was onto the next: when is this arrest going to be effected? Where is Ian Cleary? We have concern that there was no arrest made yet in this case and we don’t want to see him absconded from justice.”
Dunn said they believe Cleary is in Europe, “possibly France,” or Australia. She asked for help from the public in finding him and turning him in.
Andrea Levy, legal director at the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, says prosecution for these types of cases can be an uphill battle. She has had numerous clients who reported their sexual assault and were told “no” by prosecutors. She said that despite attempts to provide additional information to prosecutors as well as resources to support the county and push for action, most attempts are not successful.
“Ninety percent are denied,” she said, referring to cases on which she has worked.
Keeler was a freshman at Gettysburg in 2013 when she attended the frat party with her friends to celebrate the end of the semester. She told ABC News in May that Cleary, who was at the party but not a member of the fraternity, began to bother her and at one point insisted that she dance with him. She said he also tried to kiss her.
Keeler said she felt uncomfortable and asked a male friend to walk her back to her dorm room. Cleary confronted them during the walk back and offered her friend $20, she said.
“He said to my friend, ‘Let me have her. Please let me have her,’” Keeler told ABC News in May. “My friend pretty much told him, ‘I’m just trying to get her away from you.’”
Keeler said she was getting ready for bed in her dorm room when she heard someone knocking on the door and opened it thinking a friend had visited. Instead, it was Cleary, she said, who refused to leave and eventually assaulted her.
“He did force himself on me and raped me,” Keeler said. “After he did that, he started crying.”
She said he ran out of the room after apologizing.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she said he told her, in part.
Keeler said that soon after, she reported the incident to campus and local police, who questioned her for hours and had her submit a rape kit. A Gettysburg College investigative report obtained by ABC News cites a written statement from Cleary from that time containing a general denial that he “engaged in any actionable misconduct.”
Keeler said he dropped out of Gettysburg College during the next semester, thus ending the school’s Title IX investigation.
“We applaud our former students’ bravery in continuing to bring these issues to light,” Gettysburg College said in a statement, adding, “We will continue to prioritize our efforts around sexual assault awareness. We know this work is ongoing and far from complete.”
Despite her full cooperation with authorities, then-District Attorney Shawn Wagner declined to charge Cleary, saying he did not have enough evidence to prosecute. She said he told her, “When alcohol’s involved, it’s really difficult to prove that a sexual assault occurred.”
Now a county judge, Wagner declined a request for comment from ABC News. Cleary also did not respond to requests for comment via email.
Former FBI agent and ABC News contributor Brad Garrett says the simplest way to track fugitives overseas is through the FBI, which has agents stationed in “virtually every country.”
“The real key in a fugitive investigation is, it’s extremely difficult to stay on the run, for starters,” he said. “In other words, all of your credit cards, all of your banks, anything that’s digital can track you. … And so, it’s because of all that, they ultimately do get caught.”
Dunn said that Keeler hopes to learn more about Cleary’s past, including whether there were other incidents like hers.
“If that’s the case, we may be looking for more significant time in the sentence related to this matter,” Dunn said.
But she said they’re also concerned about his well-being and that they hope he can be rehabilitated.
Keeler told ABC News in May that she was scared people wouldn’t believe her when she came out about her story all these years later, and that it would hurt her career and come to “define” her. Still, she said she hopes other people who hear about her story after going through something similar know that they’re not alone.
“We, together, can help … positively impact the broken system,” she said.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, know that you are not alone. Help is available anytime. Call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
(NEW YORK) — The LEGOLAND Hotel in New York is almost open for business.
The hotel just announced it will open for overnight bookings beginning on Aug. 6 following the opening of LEGOLAND New York Resort on July 9.
This will be the first and only Lego-themed hotel in the Northeast and features 250 guest rooms.
All of the rooms are decorated with Pirate, Kingdom, Lego Friends and Lego Ninjago themes that feature separate sleeping areas for kids.
“Guests are greeted by a fire-breathing dragon at the hotel entrance and will discover more than 2,000 LEGO models inside the hotel,” according to a press release from LEGOLAND New York.
Activities for hotel guests include visits from Lego characters, a heated outdoor pool and creative workshops for kids.
Located at the main entrance of the resort, guests will be close enough to explore all seven lands at the new LEGOLAND New York Resort.
Reservations can be booked now on the LEGOLAND website.
(NEW YORK) — One 9-year-old is getting an early start in the medical field.
When Angelica Gunn, 30, from Belton, Missouri, started having intense contractions on June 28, her husband was at work. A week before her expected due date of July 9, and having gone into false labor just a couple days prior, Gunn wasn’t sure if this time was the real deal.
“Then midday the contractions just kicked in really hard,” Gunn told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “I felt the urge to push all of a sudden.”
With no one home but her daughter Aakayla, 9, and her son, 4, Gunn knew she would have to ask for Aakayla’s help in delivering the baby.
“I just screamed for my daughter to come in,” she said. “I was like, ‘Something’s happening, you’re going to have to look and tell me what’s going on because I don’t know.’ I kind of just felt intense pressure and like [the baby’s] head was coming out.”
Initially, Gunn was worried about having her daughter help at a young age, but knew the baby was coming no matter what and that she would need assistance to deliver safely.
“In that moment I was like, this is a moment we’re going to have to share together and it’s a bond her and her sister will have forever,” she said. “All that other stuff just went away out of my mind and I focused on the moment at hand.”
A nurse and certified doula, Gunn was able to coach her daughter through the delivery while also weathering the contractions and pushing.
“I think that my instincts kicked in,” she said. “I was able to help her even though I was still screaming in pain.”
At first, Aakayla was hesitant but then “hopped right in,” said Gunn.
“I think in that moment she realized, ‘OK, it’s just me and mommy. I’m going to have to help her because daddy’s not here,'” Gunn said. “It’s kind of just amazing how she did that. She didn’t cry, she didn’t freak out or anything.”
Aakayla brought her mom towels and when it was time for the final push about three hours later, she was able to grab her new baby sister Aubree and hand her up to her mom.
“She’s very bold and very brave for doing all of that,” Gunn said.
Paramedics arrived soon after Gunn gave birth, taking mom and daughter to the hospital to make sure everything was OK.
Gunn added of Aubree: “She’s doing good and the kids love [her] — they’re just wanting to hold her 24/7.”
(NEW YORK) — A giant container ship that blocked traffic in Suez Canal for six days earlier this year was finally set free on Wednesday after its owners and insurers reached a settlement agreement with the vital waterway’s authority.
The agreement was signed in the coastal Egyptian city of Ismailia, with Ever Given — the skyscraper-sized vessel — sailing for the first time since it was dislodged on March 29, having brought global maritime trade to a standstill after being stranded near the southern end of the canal for nearly a week.
The terms of the deal, which came after more than three months of legal wrangling, were not disclosed by either side.
Egypt had initially demanded $916 million in compensation, which was deemed excessive by the vessel’s Japanese owner. The figure was later lowered to $550 million, with an Egyptian economic court ordering the seizure of the ship until a settlement was reached.
The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) estimated its losses at around $1 billion during the six days in which the waterway was blocked, pointing to lost transit fees and the costs of its salvage operation.
Local media footage showed Ever Given, which is 400 meters long and 59 meters wide (over 1,300 feet long and about 194 feet wide), transiting out of the Bitter Lake, where it has been held between two sections of the canal since it was re-floated.
The SCA and the vessel’s owners exchanged words of praise after the settlement agreement was struck.
“We are a regular and committed customer of the Suez Canal, and we would like to place on record our thanks to the Suez Canal Authority and others who worked tirelessly to release the ship as swiftly as possible when she ran aground over three months ago,” Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd, the owners of the ship, said in a statement.
The ship will first head to Port Said, Egypt, for a dive survey of the vessel, the company said, and after approval from the American Bureau of Shipping, the Ever Given “will then complete her voyage to the next port where her cargo will be discharged.”
Egypt’s massive salvage operation involved a flotilla of tugboats and dredgers that eventually managed to free the Panama-flagged ship, with stories of rescue crews working day and night to re-float it making local headlines and becoming a source of national pride.
“Today, I stand tall among the heroes of the Suez Canal … to announce to the world that an agreement has been reached regarding the ship crisis,” SCA head Osama Rabie said at a news conference.
Egypt announced in May plans to expand the southern part of the Suez Canal to include a parallel waterway so that ships can move in both directions at the same time.
In 2015, Egypt inaugurated a 35-km (nearly 22 miles) parallel waterway in the canal’s northern section in a project that cost the country $8 billion.
(LONDON) — Haitian President Jovenel Moise was killed in an attack at his home before dawn on Wednesday, the country’s interim premier said.
A group of unidentified individuals raided Moise’s private residence in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, at around 1 a.m. local time. They gunned down the 53-year-old head of state and wounded his wife, Martine Moise, who remains hospitalized, according to a statement from Haitian interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph.
Joseph, who condemned what he called a “hateful, inhumane and barbaric act,” said that the Caribbean country’s national police force and military had the situation under control and declared a state of emergency.
Late Wednesday, Haiti’s communications secretary said in a tweet that police have arrested the “presumed assassins,” but Frantz Exantus did not provide further details about Wednesday’s slaying or say how many suspects had been arrested. He said more information was forthcoming.
Reaction has been pouring in from around the world condemning the assassination, including from U.S. President Joe Biden, who called the situation “very worrisome.”
Reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, Haiti has also been in the midst of a constitutional crisis as Moise and opposition leaders disputed the end of his five-year presidential term and legislative elections remained interminably delayed.
Addressing the nation in a televised speech, Joseph called on the people of Haiti to “stay calm.” He chaired a meeting of the government’s ministers Wednesday morning, although the country’s line of succession is unclear, especially given its recent political turmoil.
“All the ministers and I have been working since the news broke and we want to assure you we will bring the killers of the president to justice,” he said. “Please stay calm and let the authorities do their work. We don’t want the country to plunge into chaos. This is a very sad day for our nation and for our people.”
The assailants, who remain at large, were “well-trained commandos” who were speaking Spanish and most likely came from outside Haiti, according to Bocchit Edmond, Haiti’s ambassador to the U.S. The group was “highly trained and heavily armed,” according to Joseph, who called for an urgent United Nations Security Council meeting and an international investigation into the attack.
Edmond said the Haitian government had video evidence of the group speaking Spanish. He also said they claimed to be agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which Edmond rejected. He urged the U.S. to provide security assistance not just for the immediate investigation, but also to boost Haitian security forces against armed gangs and a porous border.
First lady Martine Moise is in stable but critical condition, according to Edmond, and she was to be moved to a Miami hospital for treatment at some point Wednesday.
The streets of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince were largely deserted Wednesday and Toussaint Louverture International Airport has been closed in the wake of the assassination.
The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince was also closed Wednesday, including for consular services, “due to an ongoing security situation,” it said in a security alert. The embassy also said it is restricting its American staff to its compounds “until further notice” and urged members of the public to avoid unnecessary travel to the area.
U.S. officials are “still gathering information” on the deadly attack, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki, offering U.S. assistance “if there’s an investigation.”
“We’re still assessing, still gathering information, and the president of course will be briefed by his national security team this morning,” she said.
Hours later, the White House issued a statement from Biden condemning “this heinous act.”
“I am sending my sincere wishes for First Lady Moïse’s recovery. The United States offers condolences to the people of Haiti, and we stand ready to assist as we continue to work for a safe and secure Haiti,” the statement said.
Haiti has been in a state of chaos for months now, with frequent gunfire and street skirmishes between armed groups, political demonstrations and strikes, and a coronavirus wave never brought under control. Cases of the virus were as high last month as they were one year ago, and the country has yet to distribute a single vaccine dose or receive any shipments from COVAX, the international program to provide vaccines to low- and middle-income countries.
That’s in part because of the governing crisis roiling Haiti. The country’s political opposition had argued that Moise’s five-year presidential term ended this February — five years after his election victory, but four years after he took office — while he said he had one more year left because the disputed 2016 election delayed his inauguration until 2017.
Moise had been governing by decree since January 2020, after the country failed to hold legislative elections and the legislature’s mandate expired. Opposition leaders accused him of wanting to return Haiti to a dictatorship.
Earlier this year, Moise ordered the retirement of three Supreme Court judges and the arrest of nearly two dozen people, including prominent officials, who he alleged were plotting a coup. Violent protests against Moise erupted, prompting the president to declare a state of emergency in parts of the country in March.
The political instability in addition to economic woes and escalating gang violence have undermined efforts to rebuild Haiti from a devastating earthquake in 2010 and Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
While the Biden administration backed Moise’s claim to have one more year in office, it had grown increasingly vocal in its opposition to his “one-man rule,” in the words of the top U.S. diplomat for the Western Hemisphere, including governing by decrees and refusing to hold those legislative elections.
While the White House has said it will provide Haiti some of the initial 80 million COVID-19 vaccines it has promised to share overseas, it has yet to announce when it will do so — with the worsening security situation now making it that much harder.
ABC News’s Christine Theodorou, Molly Nagle, and Sarah Kolinovsky contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Congressional Democrats are eyeing a swift timeline for Senate approval of a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan, aiming to have the legislation on the floor as early as the week of July 19, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter.
The details of the timeline, including a push to have legislative language ready for consideration by Friday, were discussed among Democratic congressional aides and Louisa Terrell, the head of White House Legislative Affairs, and her deputy, Shuwanza Goff on a call Wednesday, the sources said.
The next hurdle for the bipartisan group of more than 20 co-sponsors, led by Sens Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz, and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, would be to obtain an official analysis of their bill by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office which crunches the numbers to see if proposed revenue would cover the desired new spending. That process takes time and usually far longer than most think or want.
The White House call and July 19 timeline were first reported by Politico.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he wants the bipartisan package considered before the August recess. He said a sweeping — potentially $5 trillion — budget bill containing a blueprint for the top priorities of the administration and congressional Democrats, like child and elder care, Medicare expansion and climate change policies, would eventually be considered just after the monthlong summer recess.
The latter bill — a budget resolution laying the groundwork for a so-called reconciliation bill that would be crafted under arcane chamber rules that require just a simple majority — would instruct multiple committees to draft pieces of a broader bill. The final product would require unanimous Democratic support in the Senate and nearly every Democrat in the House, given that no Republican is expected to vote for it.
The budget resolution and its directives to committees, which unlocks the reconciliation process, is being crafted by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and is expected to be unveiled early next week, according to two Democratic sources familiar with the matter.
Sanders has acknowledged the broad range of views among his Democratic panel members and caucus colleagues, conceding weeks ago that his ambitious price tag might need to shrink to win support.
The timeline for all of this is incredibly bold as Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attempt to appease disparate factions of their caucuses. And Pelosi has insisted that she will hold onto any bipartisan infrastructure legislation that passes the Senate until that chamber also approves the reconciliation bill.
Moderates like Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., have pushed for a far smaller package and urged against dramatically raising taxes on the wealthy to pay for the plan.
And Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has made no secret of the fact that he plans to make it exceedingly difficult for his Democratic counterparts to maintain unity, urging centrist Democrats not to sign onto the sweeping, Democrats-only legislation.
“This is going to be a hell of a fight over what this country ought to look like in the future and that’s all going to unfold here in the next few weeks,” McConnell said Tuesday.”There is a process by which they could pass this bill without a single Republican, but we are going to make it hard for them,” McConnell said at an event Wednesday in his home state. “And there are a few Democrats left in rural America and some others who would like to be more in the political center who may find this offensive.”
(NEW YORK) — A 16-year-old suspect was arrested Wednesday in connection with a shooting in Times Square that left a Marine injured, police sources told ABC News.
The unidentified teen surrendered to police Wednesday afternoon, ending a 10-day search by police. Charges are pending.
The incident took place on June 27 at the corner Seventh Avenue and 46th Street when a small group of vendors allegedly got into an argument, police said.
One vendor pulled out a gun and opened fire, according to investigators and surveillance camera footage. Samuel Poulin, 21, who was standing just a few feet away near a Starbucks, was grazed in the back by one of the bullets.
Poulin, who recently graduated from the Citadel and was visiting Manhattan from upstate New York, was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police said that Poulin was not the intended target.
The NYPD beefed up its presence in the area immediately after the shooting and Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city would crack down on illegal vending.
NYPD data shows a 37.8% increase in the total number of reported shooting incidents in the year to date compared to 2020, but newly released statistics show there was an improvement in June.
Reported shooting incidents in New York City were down 20% in June compared to May and reported murders were down 23% during that same period, according to crime statistics released by the NYPD on Tuesday.
Eva Marie Uzcategui Trinkl/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(SURFSIDE, Fla.) — The search and rescue efforts at the collapsed Surfside, Florida, apartment complex have shifted to a recovery effort as 86 people remain unaccounted for, officials said Wednesday.
Rescue crews found eight additional victims in the rubble Wednesday, raising the death toll to 54, officials said Wednesday afternoon.
The disaster occurred on June 24 around 1:15 a.m. local time at the Champlain Towers South condominium in the small, beachside town of Surfside, about 6 miles north of Miami Beach. Approximately 55 of the oceanfront complex’s 136 units were destroyed, according to officials. Since then, hundreds of first responders have been carefully combing through the pancaked piles of debris in hopes of finding survivors.
On Wednesday, a grand jury agreed to investigate the Surfside collapse, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announced, saying in a statement that she requested that the grand jury “look into how we can prevent such a disaster from occurring again, not just in Surfside, and not just in condominiums, but in all buildings and structures in the coastal, intercoastal and surrounding areas of our county, state and nation.”
No further details were available, as grand jury work is confidential in Florida.
The announcement came after three more victims — husband-and-wife Gino Cattarossi, 89, and Graciela Cattarossi, 86, as well as Simon Segal, 80 — were identified Wednesday, according to investigators. In total 32 victims have been identified as of midday Wednesday.
Crews have hauled away nearly 5 million pounds of concrete from the vast scene of wreckage, but large piles of rubble still remain. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Alan Cominsky said the rescue workers have been “aggressively” searching for any voids or “liveable spaces” within the debris where there could be trapped survivors but that they are “not coming across that.” No survivors have been discovered in the wreckage of the building since the morning it partially collapsed.
“We’re not seeing anything positive,” Cominsky told reporters on Tuesday morning.
Teams are now able to operate at full capacity and search in areas that were previously inaccessible following the demolition of the remaining part of the building.
The part of the building that remained standing was cleared of any people or pets before it was demolished on Sunday night, due to concerns about its structural integrity. However, it was too dangerous for surviving residents to enter the building to retrieve their belongings, officials said.
Video released by the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue on Monday night showed crews working atop the piles, braving the elements as Tropical Storm Elsa approached the Sunshine State.
The incoming storm, which has weakened from a hurricane, initiated the discussion about demolishing the rest of the building and fast-tracked the process, according to Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett. Elsa made landfall in Cuba on Monday and by Tuesday morning the storm’s center was moving through Key West with maximum sustained winds of 60 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.
Prior to the demolition, the search and rescue operation was halted for almost an entire day last week due to safety concerns for the crews regarding the remaining structure. Poor weather conditions have also forced them to temporarily pause working.
The cause of the partial collapse to a building that has withstood decades of hurricanes remains unknown and is under investigation. Built in the 1980s, the Champlain Towers South was up for its 40-year recertification and had been undergoing roof work — with more renovations planned — when it partially collapsed, according to officials.
“The whole world wants to know what happened here,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told reporters on Tuesday morning. “I look forward to learning the truth, as do we all, but I think it’ll be a while before it is understood.”
Burkett told reporters that he has drafted a letter that will be sent to condo boards and building owners outlining “minimum stopgap” measures to ensure their properties are secure.
“The town of Surfside is committed to doing everything it can to ensure the safety and peace of mind of its residents and we are grateful to our county, state and federal partners for all their amazing support,” he said.
