CHAMPLAIN TOWERS SOUTH

Jacksonville City Councilman Rory Diamond has introduced a bill that would impose new mandatory building inspections for Jacksonville in the wake of the Surfside building collapse last year that killed 98 people.

On June 24, 2021, Champlain Towers South, a condominium in Surfside, Florida, collapsed in the middle of the night, killing 98 people. Sharyn Alfonsi reports on the investigations into what caused the disaster.

"I want [people in Florida] to know that we're working as fast as we can," a lead federal investigator said. "And the implications for our findings are huge. We have to get this right."

Developers and city officials are pushing back on family members’ expectations for a memorial for 98 people who died last year when a beachfront Florida condominium building collapsed.

Lawyers who secured a $1.1 billion settlement in the deadly collapse last year of a beachfront Florida condominium building were awarded more than $70 million in fees Monday by a judge. The total was less than the approximately $100 million attorneys with the 17 law firms had requested, but there were no guarantees initially they would ever be paid in the days after the Champlain Towers South building fell June 24, 2021, killing 98 people. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman said surviving family members and people who only lost units and property got far more in compensation than is typical in such large class-action cases — and this lawsuit was settled in only a year's time.

Hundreds of bogus claims that sought a share of the $1.1 billion settlement in the deadly collapse of a Florida condominium building have been ruled as invalid by a judge.

A judge says money from the sale of Florida beachfront property where a collapsed condominium tower once stood will be used to pay property taxes of the destroyed units.

When a Surfside condominium tower collapsed last year killing 98 people, a wave of sympathy reached all the way to Tallahassee: Gov. Ron DeSantis and state legislators forgave the unit owners’ tax bills, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Regardless of the cause, many have said that one of the deadliest collapses in U.S. history could have been prevented. The tragedy sparked some changes to Florida law.

On the first anniversary of the Surfside condo collapse, many families of those killed say they remain in a state of limbo. A judge on Thursday gave final approval for a $1 billion settlement to families who lost loved ones, but it offers no answers as to what happened, and assigns no blame.

One year after the Champlain Towers South building collapsed, killing 98 people and displacing hundreds of residents, the husband and daughter of Judy Spiegel reflected on what it has been like without her.

About $100 million is earmarked for legal fees, and $96 million set aside for owners of the building's 136 units.

About $100 million is earmarked for legal fees, and $96 million set aside for owners of the building's 136 units.

A judge gave final approval Thursday to a settlement topping $1 billion for victims of the collapse of a Florida beachfront condominium building that killed 98 people.

A judge has given final approval to a settlement of more than $1 billion for victims of the collapse of a Florida beachfront condominium.

The federal investigation into the deadly collapse of a Florida beachfront condominium building is entering a new phase that involves cutting and drilling into concrete and steel to determine what role they played.

The federal investigation into the deadly collapse of a Florida beachfront condominium building is entering a new phase that involves cutting and drilling into concrete and steel to determine what role they played.

A Florida judge has given gave initial approval to a settlement of more than $1 billion to families who lost loved ones in the collapse last year of a Florida beachfront condominium building in which 98 people died.

Attorneys for the families who lost relatives or homes in last year’s collapse of a Florida condominium tower that killed 98 people have reached a $1.02 billion settlement.

Florida will require statewide recertification of condominiums over three stories tall under new legislation Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law.

A bill has been sent to Florida's governor that would require statewide recertification of condominiums over three stories tall, in response to the Surfside building collapse that killed 98 people.

People who owned condominiums in the Florida building that collapsed nearly a year ago but didn’t suffer a loss of life will together collect at least $96 million from a court settlement.

A billionaire developer from Dubai is set to purchase the site of a South Florida condominium that collapsed last June, killing 98 people, for $120 million after no other bids were submitted by the Friday evening deadline for next week’s auction.

Family members of some of the 98 people killed in a Florida condominium collapse last June say they are too deep in mourning to contemplate the nearly $1 billion settlement their attorneys negotiated on their behalf.

A settlement has been reached in a class-action lawsuit brought by families of victims and survivors of last June's condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida.

The Champlain Towers South condominium collapsed abruptly on June 24, destroying dozens of units and and burying victims under rubble.

The settlement is still pending approval from the courts.

The settlement is still pending approval from the courts.

Lawyers representing families of victims and survivors of the condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida, last June have told a judge that they've reached a nearly $1 billion tentative settlement.

Proposed changes to enhance condo safety in the aftermath of the tragedy that killed 98 in Surfside fail to pass.

People who owned units in a Florida oceanfront condominium building that collapsed last year will divide $83 million for property losses, with the compensation for families over the 98 deaths still to be determined.

The report comes six months after the horrific collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building that killed 98 people, and warns of future catastrophes if changes are not immediately instituted.

"The collapse was entirely preventable," says a lawsuit filed on behalf of Champlain Towers South victims and family members.

Prosecutors say three people have been arrested on charges involving the theft of the identities of some of the victims of June’s deadly South Florida condominium collapse.

An oceanfront park is emerging as the leading site for a memorial to the victims of the deadly condominium building collapse in Florida.

A simulation based on a digital model that factors in witness accounts, visual evidence and construction plans shows that an initial collapse in the pool deck area of Champlain Towers South could have triggered a series of events that brought down much of the building.

A young security guard who worked at the Champlain Towers South building, the Surfside, Florida structure that collapsed on the […] The post Security guard breaks silence about escaping Surfside condo collapse appeared first on TheGrio.

The unsettling video provides an insight into the early minutes between the deadly condo building collapse and when authorities arrived on the scene.

The final victim of the collapse of a condominium building in Surfside, Florida has been recovered and identified.

Miami-Dade County has identified the final known victim of the Surfside condominium collapse, capping more than a month of recovering bodies and remains of the missing from the rubble of the Champlain Towers South complex.

Firefighters have officially ended their search for bodies in the debris of the collapsed Surfside condo building.

Firefighters have officially ended their search for bodies in the debris of the collapsed Surfside condo building.

After the collapse that killed 97 people, a new rule requires buildings are cleared by an engineer or vacated if they are overdue for recertification.

With almost all of the debris removed from the Surfside condo collapse, the oceanfront town expects Collins Avenue to reopen soon around the site of the former Champlain Towers South complex. That’s caused another worry: can the hollowed-out condominium site still support the adjoining road?

A Florida judge on Wednesday said that victims and families of the deadly Florida condo collapse last month would receive $150 million to start.

Miami-Dade County's Unsafe Structure's Board is under pressure to speed up the process for reviewing problematic structures following the collapse of the Champlain Towers South a month ago. Before the tower collapsed June 24, the county board already had a backlog of 1,000 unsafe-structure cases, the Miami Herald reported. If a building can't get an engineer's endorsement that quickly, residents would have to be evacuated, Spencer Errickson, supervisor of the county's Unsafe Structures division, said at a meeting Wednesday.

Yadira Santos, who survived the Surfside condo collapse along with her 8-year-old son, stood at the courtroom podium, overcome with emotion. Many of her neighbors and friends perished in the collapse of Champlain Towers South. So did her condo unit — which she worked for years to pay off.

A judge says victims and families who suffered losses in the collapse of a 12-story oceanfront Florida condominium will get a minimum of $150 million in compensation initially.

The three-week-long search for victims in the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside has become “increasingly difficult” as the recovery workers continue to search the rubble.

A South Florida judge says all options remain on the table as a decision is made over what to do with the property where a 12-story condominium tower collapsed last month.

Efforts to recover human remains from the debris of a South Florida condominium are nearing an end.

The recovery effort at Champlain Towers South may be coming to a close, three weeks to the day after the building collapsed.

The number of confirmed deaths in the collapse of a condominium building in Surfside, Florida, climbed to 97 as a judge approved the sale of the site.

‘If the building comes down, it will come down on my head’, a resident told dispatchers

One 911 caller, a woman, said "the pool area started sinking down."

The Miami Herald obtained residential data from June 7th through July 11th.

We have just entered the third week since the horrific collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, such a short amount of time, it seems, to start putting a price tag on the property where the building once stood.

Court records say the sale of the Champlain Towers South property could bring in $100 million to $110 million. A court-appointed receiver handles the finances.

The CEO of Citizens Property Insurance, Barry Gilway, said condo boards will be forced to look for new carriers after the Surfside collapse

Hundreds of victims of the deadly collapse of a Surfside condo building could expect to see compensation in the near future, as a Miami-Dade Circuit judge Wednesday approved the planned sale of the oceanfront property, valued at more than $100 million, as well as the disbursement of millions more in insurance payments for property and personal damages.

Recordings of 911 calls after an oceanfront Florida condominium collapsed show disbelief, panic and confusion as people tried to comprehend the disaster.

A Florida judge on Wednesday approved the sale of the oceanfront property where a collapsed Florida condominium building once stood, with proceeds intended to benefit victims of the deadly disaster. At a hearing, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman ordered that the process begin to sell the site of Champlain Towers South, which could fetch $100 million to $110 million according to court records. The court-appointed receiver handling finances related to the condo, attorney Michael Goldberg, said the judge wants the sale to move quickly.

The recovery operation at the site of a collapsed condominium building in Surfside, Florida is moving towards completion as the death toll climbs to 95.

The death toll in the Miami-area condominium building collapse has climbed to 95 as crews worked for a 20th day to find victims in the rubble.

Authorities are trying to recover keepsakes for families that have lost relatives​ and for surviving residents of the building.

Recovery crews at the Florida condominium collapse are cataloging all personal possessions found in the rubble in hopes of returning them to families of the dead or survivors.

When the body of 4-year-old Emma Guara was pulled from the rubble of last month's Florida condominium collapse, she was wearing the silver necklace her mother recently gave her, the pendant shaped like half a heart and inscribed “Little Sis.” When firefighters found her 11-year-old sister, Lucia Guara, she was not wearing her near-matching necklace, the pendant shaped like the other half of the heart and inscribed “Big Sis.” Lucia had developed an allergic reaction and had temporarily stopped wearing hers, said their aunt, Digna Rodriguez.

One of the victims of the Champlain Towers South condominium building collapse in Surfside grew up in the Jacksonville Beach area.

Even as crews are continuing their search for the last remaining souls that perished in the collapse of condominium town in Surfside, Florida, questions are swirling across the community about what to do with the property.

The body of 65-year-old Judy Spiegel was located in the rubble of the Champlain Towers South condominium building collapse in Surfside, her family told News4Jax.

On the 19th day since the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South, search teams continued to work through the rubble in the effort to find the remains of every last victim.

At least 94 are confirmed dead and 22 unaccounted for at the site of the collapse of a 12-story condominium building in Surfside, Florida.

The death toll in the disaster has risen to 94, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced.

Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Jose "Pepe" Diaz, who took part in news conferences near the Surfside collapse, is now isolating.

A vaccinated Miami-Dade county commissioner who helped other local officials in Surfside following the collapse of a condominium building announced that he and his chief of staff tested positive for COVID-19. The news release late Sunday from Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz said he and his chief of staff Isidoro Lopez, who also received a vaccine against COVID-19, came down with flu-like symptoms earlier in the day and later tested positive for the virus. Diaz had participated in news conferences and meetings with other officials in Surfside, the Miami Herald reported.

On Sunday, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett held up a cell phone photo of a search commander holding a ring they believe belongs to still-missing Champlain Towers South resident Dr. Brad Cohen. A bracelet made by Cohen’s 12-year-old daughter, whom Burkett saw praying by herself days after the collapse, adorns Burkett’s left wrist.

More than two dozen people are still listed as missing; Miami-Dade fire chief says recovery phase may take two to three weeks.

More than two dozen people are still listed as missing; Miami-Dade fire chief says recovery phase may take two to three weeks.

The collapse of a Florida condo has jolted some U.S. cities into reviewing inspection policies, but the efforts could meet resistance from residents.

Search crews have discovered an additional four victims of the Surfside condominium collapse, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced Sunday, bringing the confirmed death toll from the June 24 catastrophe to 90 with a remaining list of 31 more people feared lost under the rubble.

Search crews have discovered an additional four victims of the Surfside condominium collapse, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced Sunday, bringing the confirmed death toll from the June 24 catastrophe to 90 with a remaining list of 31 more people feared lost under the rubble.

Authorities searching for victims of a deadly collapse in Florida say they hope to conclude their painstaking work in the coming weeks as a team of first responders from Israel departed the site.

A somber moment of silence marked the end of the two-week search for survivors of a Florida condominium collapse, as rescue workers stood at solemn attention and clergy members hugged a line of local officials while many of them sobbed.

The vice mayor of a South Florida city says he wants a review of all the work done by a former municipal official who assured condo board members in another city that their building was in “very good shape” three years before it collapsed.

Legal action is already underway in the deadly Florida building collapse, even before rescuers have finished searching for victims.

As rescuers peel away layer after layer of the collapsed condo building in South Florida, the toll increases.

A Surfside, Florida, official pushed back Sunday on the idea that the town was responsible for slowing down a condo board’s plans to make needed structural repairs to a building that eventually collapsed, killing dozens.

Demolition crews have set off explosives to bring down the remaining portion of a collapsed South Florida condo.

Crews are trying to rescue a cat seen on a lower floor of the remaining wing of a collapsed 12-story condominium complex near Miami.

Official say the body of a Miami firefighter’s 7-year-old daughter was recovered from the site of a South Florida condo collapse by the search and rescue team he had been assisting.

The number of people missing in the Florida condominium collapse fell following a new review.

Dozens who fled the collapse of a condominium tower in South Florida escaped with their lives, but little else.

She was asking for help and she was pleading to be taken out of there.

The News4Jax I-TEAM continues to uncover more about the history of the Champlain Towers South condo building through documents newly-released by the town of Surfside.

Stories of survival are kindling hopes that rescuers may find more people alive within the rubble of the collapsed Champlain Towers South condo tower in Surfside, Florida.

A former city official who assured leaders that a Florida condo building was in “very good shape” three years before it collapsed has left his new job.

A New York City man bought a beachfront condo in Florida to start a new chapter of his life after his wife and parents died.

As more human remains emerge from the rubble of the collapsed Florida condo tower, the dead now include the first children.

A 15 page letter from the president of the condominium association at Champlain Towers South warned owners back in April that parts of the building were deteriorating faster than previously thought.

Officials say prosecutors in Florida will pursue a grand jury investigation into the deadly collapse of an oceanfront condominium building.