Last week in Surfside, Florida, a town near Miami, a large condominium building collapsed in the middle of the night. About fifty-five of the building's 136 units collapsed within a matter of seconds. To date, 97 have been confirmed dead as we approach the end of the search.

The twelve-story Champlain Towers South building was built sometime in the early 1980s. Because of climate conditions in the area, buildings over forty years old are required to undergo a recertification process to identify any structural or electrical issues. Exposure to salt air is corrosive to concrete and is a known problem, and hurricane winds and saltwater flooding add additional stress.

In 2018 an engineer was hired to undergo the recertification process of the building. As a result, the engineering consultant Morabito Consultants had reported major structural damage to the slab below the pool deck and "abundant" cracking and spalling of the concrete columns, beams and walls in the garage under the tower. Spalling refers to the deterioration of concrete, sometimes causing flaking and the exposure of reinforcing steel bars known as rebar. The report recommended that repairs be made in order to maintain the structural integrity of the building. The report and estimate of the cost of repairs were given to the condominium board at that time. A new roof was being put on the building at the time of its collapse.