Just checking in with folks in South FL or who may have relatives in the Surfside/Miami area - hoping all are safe. Such a tragedy.
99 people unaccounted for 
Now it says 51 unaccounted for. That’s better than 99.
Where are you seeing that, @igloo?
Yahoo news,
“Miami-Dade Commissioner Sally Heyman, who represents the area, said 51 people are unaccounted for.”
35 min ago
99 people still unaccounted for in building collapse, according to Miami-Dade police
From CNN’s Rosa Flores
“Ninety-nine people are unaccounted for after the partial building collapse in Surfside, Florida, according to Miami-Dade Police Department spokesperson Alvaro Zabaleta.
Previous reports were that 51 people were unaccounted for in the incident at the Champlain Towers South condominiums”
sadly, @igloo, it looks like its the other way around 
Blockquote
It was 51, it’s been updated to 99. 
There surely are many deaths. This occurred while many were sleeping. How horrific.
Tha’s too bad. Almost double.
As a structural engineer, I am so sad.
1 Like
What are your thoughts about the collapse? Some said the building was sinking.
Would appreciate your expertise -
Are all buildings built close to the ocean potentially dangerous, or is this an isolated incident?
This is very isolated. Think of the thousands of buildings on the coast that have never had issues. This is kind of the exception that proves the rule.
If I have any insights as more news is released, I will share. A former poster on CC, aibarr, is a forensics structural engineer in Houston who delves into these kinds of situations. I follow her on Facebook and will be interested in what she learns.
After seeing the video of the collapse, I don’t think they will find any more survivors.
5 Likes
A U Chicago student and his girlfriend who it looks like just graduated from Tulane were in the building and are missing.
This is so very sad. H is a civil, PE, and like @MaineLonghorn said, he said the forensic engineers will be key in this. Such a scary event.
The # of dead currently up to 4, and the missing/unaccounted for is up to 159
Having watched the video, and given the time of night the collapse occured, sadly this is now a recovery, not a rescue. My thoughts are with those families of the victims.
There is a woman who posted a short video on Twitter from a camera inside her condo (I guess she was not there!) just before the collapse. She had dozens of networks requesting permission to use it, lots of creaking and water flowing down, probably from already broken pipes. Eerie.
It’s being discussed on some short term rental forums and made me think, can you imagine the liability and lawsuits that will come out of this!
My D is a forensic structural engineer (early in her career, will have her PE soon and working toward SE). She was really upset by this. Very sad situation.
A forensic engineer she knows was interviewed for this news piece on the collapse: Chicago Experts, Officials Weigh in After Miami Beach Condo Building Collapse – NBC Chicago
I saw that video from inside one of the apartments. Really scary.
Very cool. One of my dad’s specialties is forensic structural engineering. He organized a two-day virtual forensics conference this spring that I got to attend. it was fascinating. To be honest, though, some of the failures were frightening - they should never have happened. The FIU pedestrian bridge collapse was one of the case studies.
The 1981 Hyatt Regency walkway collapse, which killed 114 and injured over 200, occurred just before my sophomore year in engineering school. We got a lot of lectures on that event! Scared the heck out of us.