Florida condo collapse: Investigators focus on structural failure

Evidence of structural damage before the collapse emerges as search-and-rescue operations enter a sixth day.

Investigators probing the cause of the condo building collapse in Surfside, Florida, are finding evidence of water damage and structural corrosion so severe the building’s owner association had estimated it would cost $15 million to repair. The president of the Champlain South Towers condo association told residents in April their building desperately needed to fix structural problems, the Wall Street Journal reported. Condo board president Jean Wodnicki wrote to owners that damage to the building’s foundational concrete and steel bars built in 1981 was “observable”, “has gotten significantly worse” and would “multiply exponentially” in coming years.