PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Just one day after a portion of a second-floor deck collapsed at a Ponte Vedra rental beach home injured more than a dozen people, several people were seen exiting the home with bags and suitcases.
The incident happened on Sunday afternoon. Eight of the people injured had to be taken to the hospital.
Multiple posted signs on Monday warned that the deck that wraps around the beach house was deemed unsafe. The cause of the collapse was still under investigation, and the people seen exiting the home with bags and suitcases did not want to talk about it.
The property is managed by Wren Beach Rentals, based in St. Augustine. A representative told News4JAX the company would not be making any statements about the collapse, so News4JAX was unable to find out the last time the deck was inspected.
North American Deck and Railing Association Executive Vice President Michael Beaudry said corrosion, rust, rot, moisture intrusion, termites, and engineering flaws are the common causes of deck collapses. He also said homeowners should have their decks inspected every three years, and companies that own and manage beach rental properties should have decks inspected every year.
“More people are hurt in a deck collapse annually than all of the natural catastrophes put together, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, more than 30,000 people a year are injured from deck collapses or deck failures. Unfortunately, they’re preventable by proper inspections,” Beaudry said.
According to the Law Office of Ligori and Ligori, Central Florida attorneys who specialize in representing structural collapse victims, the most common injuries from a deck collapse are fractures and broken bones, paralysis, traumatic brain injuries, internal organ damage, and puncture wounds.
The victims’ conditions remained unclear.