RACE AGAINST TIME

Surfside Condo Search Urgently Steps Up as Storm Elsa Threatens Site of Disaster

Four more bodies found, raising total to 32, as mayor says workers are throwing everything they can at the effort.

Bodies of four additional victims at the collapsed Surfside condo tower were recovered Tuesday morning, bringing the death toll to 32 with 113 people still unaccounted for, according to a local fire official. The search and rescue team digging through the rubble in Florida has urgently stepped up its efforts ahead of the expected arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa. Conditions worsened across the Florida Keys early Tuesday as the storm closed in off the west side of the state. Surfside, on the east coast, should avoid a direct hit, but rescue crews could still face downpours and even tornadoes. Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told CNN that workers are throwing everything they can at the effort before the worst of the extreme weather arrives, saying: “We’re now at 100 percent full strength, full-on pulling everybody out of that rubble pile.” The mayor added that efforts have been made safer after the demolition of the remains of the complex Sunday, saying: “The worst thing that could have happened was to have a storm come in and blow that building down on top of the pile.”