COMING DOWN

Rest of Surfside Condo Building to Be Demolished as Tropical Storm Looms

“If the building is taken down this will protect our search and rescue teams,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said.

Officials in Florida have confirmed that the remainder of the collapsed Surfside condo building will be demolished on Sunday. Gov. Ron DeSantis said the standing structure had been a concern for a while, but is even more so given a tropical storm is headed toward the state. “We have a building here in Surfside that is tottering, it is structurally unsound,” he said. “If the building is taken down this will protect our search and rescue teams.”

Bringing down the building will suspend search operations and the Associated Press reports that families who asked to go into the building to get personal belongings will not be allowed to. The search and rescue of efforts have been hampered from the beginning because of fires and strong rains. But on Friday the Miami Herald reported that COVID-19 was posing an additional challenge after six firefighters tested positive. It wasn’t clear if members of the rescue team had been quarantined.