Ron Brackett and Jan Wesner Childs
Experts at the site of the collapsed Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida, set off explosives to bring the rest of the tower down Sunday night ahead of any potential impacts from Tropical Storm Elsa.
Rescuers resumed their search for survivors as soon as the site was declared safe.
"It was picture perfect. Exactly what we were told would happen," Daniella Levine Cava, mayor of Miami-Dade County, said in an interview after the demolition, according to the Associated Press.
Elsa's threat added urgency to the demolition plans over the holiday weekend. There could be strong winds in the area Monday.
(MORE: The Latest Forecast for Elsa)
Floridians are being advised to monitor the storm. Tropical storm warnings were issued from the Florida Keys along the Gulf Coast to the Suwannee River, including the Tampa Bay area. Watches extended northward from the Suwannee to Indian Pass in the Panhandle. A storm surge watch was issued for much of the same area.
Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 15 counties: Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lee, Levy, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota.
Kevin Guthrie, the state's emergency management director, said people should prepare for extended power outages, especially in areas where there are lots of trees that could be brought down by the wind.
Duke Energy said Sunday that it will move power utility crews so they are staged in areas and ready to help restore power as soon as it is safe to do so.
Florida Power & Light said it has activated its emergency response plan and has 6,000 workers prepared to respond.
Adam Linhardt, a spokesperson for the sheriff's office in Monroe County where the Keys are located, told weather.com Sunday that he hoped residents were keeping an eye on storm.
"We are telling people to do all those precautions they should normally take," he said. That includes things like securing boats and outdoor items and topping off vehicle gas tanks.
DeSantis reminded residents to follow proper generator safety rules in the event of power outages.
"In the last four years we’ve had more people die from carbon monoxide poisoning than from the direct impacts of the storms, and we’ve had quite a few of them," DeSantis said at a Sunday news briefing.
Condo Demolition Update
Engineers decided last week that the remains of the collapsed condominium building would need to come down for safety reasons. The timeline for demolition was expedited over fears that winds from Elsa could topple the rest of the building and create more hazardous conditions at the site.
Levine Cava said the top priority was for the building to come down "as soon as possible and as safely as possible."
Explosives were set off Sunday night to bring down the remaining portion of the condominium building.
The remaining part of the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building fell in a controlled demolition on Sunday, July 4, 2021 in Surfside, Florida. The decision by officials to bring the rest of the building down was brought on by the approach of Tropical Storm Elsa and fears that the structure might come down in an uncontrolled fashion. More than 120 people are missing as the search-and-rescue effort continues.Florida-based search and rescue crews were called off the scene so they could return to their home locations and prepare for the storm. They were replaced by teams from several other states.
Levine Cava said work could be halted again if the weather is a threat.
(MORE: Track Elsa Here)
Sustained winds between 10 and 25 mph are forecast in the area Monday into Tuesday, and gusts could be higher in any stronger bands of rain or thunderstorms.
The confirmed death toll from the June 24 collapse stands at 27; more than 115 people are still unaccounted for. No one has been rescued alive since the first hours after the collapse.
Other Preparations
Aircraft based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa were being flown to a safe location outside the storm's reach, officials there said in an update posted on Facebook Sunday morning. All non-essential personnel were told not to report for duty on Tuesday.
A tweet from the city of Tampa said workers there were preparing for the storm, including lowering levels in retention ponds to help prevent flooding. The ground in the Tampa Bay area is already saturated from recent heavy rains.
(MORE: The 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season Pace Is Already Faster Than 2020)
Monroe County Administrator Roman Gastesi said that mandatory evacuations were not expected, but voluntary evacuations of mobile homes and live-aboard vessels would likely be advised for Monday and Tuesday. Visitors and those in RVs and travel trailers are being asked to consider their travel plans for those two days in order to avoid congestion.
"The last thing we want is a lot of people leaving the Florida Keys on Monday at 11 a.m.," Gastesi said. "We hope visitors will consider extending their stay through Wednesday, when we are expecting normal summertime conditions to resume, or to leave earlier on Monday to avoid traffic issues in the Upper Keys we normally see after busy holiday weekends."
In Miami-Dade, emergency workers were checking in with special needs individuals who may require to transport to hospitals if they are dependent on electricity for medical needs.
Emergency Management Director Frank Rollason told weather.com that he didn't expect to open evacuation centers. "We will continue to monitor the storm and adjust our plans as the circumstances dictate," he said.
The Pinellas County Commission held an emergency meeting Sunday to declare a local state of emergency. Officials warned that flooding could be a problem.
“We’ve been already messaging out some of the low-lying areas where we already know some of the residents have problems with flooding,” Pinellas County Administrator Barry Burton said, according to WFLA. “So we’re making sure we are telling them to take precautions.”
Officials advised those who are new to the area to familiarize themselves with evacuation and flood risk zones.
Hillsborough County Manatee County officials also declared local states of emergency.
"It’s important for the public to monitor the storm and prepare for a possible tropical storm impacting our area," Manatee County Public Safety Director Jacob Saur said, according to WTVT. "This will largely be a rain event but as the ground is already saturated, trees can easily topple from the winds produced by tropical storms in our area."
A handful of local governments in the Tampa Bay area opened sandbag stations in anticipation of Elsa's arrival.
The U.S. Coast Guard warned that pleasure craft should seek safe harbor and large ocean-going ships and barges above certain sizes should make plans to leave the ports of Miami and Key West.
The storm is approaching during what is typically one of the busiest travel times of the year, and as travel volume returns to pre-pandemic levels.
Officials at Miami-Dade International Airport advised passengers to closely monitor flight status through their airlines. Tampa International Airport officials said they too were closely monitoring Elsa's track.
On Sunday night, President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for the state of Florida in order to make federal resources available for storm preparation and emergency response.
Elsa is the fifth named Atlantic storm and first hurricane of the 2021 season. It is the earliest E-named storm on record in the Atlantic.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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