Скачать или смотреть Surfside Condo Collapse Tragedy

On June 24, 2021, at approximately 1:22 a.m., a catastrophic structural failure occurred at the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida. A massive section of the 12-story beachfront building suddenly collapsed, killing 98 people. The disaster began in the pool deck area, where decades of standing water and salt-air corrosion had eaten away at the steel reinforcement within the concrete. When the deck finally failed, it pulled down the main support columns, triggering a progressive collapse of the residential units above.

Investigators from NIST have identified multiple "higher-likelihood" scenarios, including severe design flaws dating back to 1981 and unauthorized weight added by heavy planters and sand on the pool deck. The building was in the early stages of its 40-year recertification process, with engineers having warned of "major structural damage" years prior. One of the most haunting survivors was 15-year-old Jonah Handler, who was pulled from the wreckage after a passerby saw his hand waving through a rift in the debris; tragically, his mother, Stacie Fang, did not survive.

As of early 2026, the case is a closed tragedy that has fundamentally reshaped Florida law. In 2024 and 2025, a massive $1.1 billion settlement was distributed to victims and their families. New state mandates now require rigorous "milestone inspections" for all aging condos and strictly prohibit associations from waiving reserve funds for structural repairs. While a new luxury tower is slated for the site by 2029, a memorial featuring a "wall of water" is being finalized to ensure the 98 souls lost in the "Surfside Glitch" are never forgotten.