Apartment Building Collapse in Florida

In the early morning hours of June 24, portions of an apartment building collapsed in an area in proximity to the city of Miami, Fla. This has led to a significant search and rescue effort for survivors: “Partial building collapse near Miami.”

A more recent update has the death toll at three, and 99 people are presumed missing. I would have to add that that 99 number is likely problematic — who knows where it came from. There could be people who were on vacation or otherwise out of town. I expect that number could go lower in the coming days; however, I also expect the death toll to go up.

The only good news I can report is that there are two Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Task Forcesin the immediate Miami area. These teams are highly trained in doing search and rescue operations in exactly this type of situation. If they can find a survivor who is trapped, they will move heaven and hell to get to them.

Here is more information on the US&R Teams.