SURFSIDE, Fla. – A week after a 12-story condo building outside Miami collapsed, search officials vowed to press on with the rescue effort around the clock as the death toll rose to 16.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced at a Wednesday news conference that four additional victims had been identified, bringing the total to 16 people dead and 147 still missing.
She said the families of 12 victims had been notified and that four families were still waiting to hear news of their loved ones.
As families cling to fading hope, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said Wednesday that many have asked him when efforts will turn from a rescue to a recovery mission and wondered how long a person could survive under the heaps of rubble.
Authorities reiterated that work at the site was a search-and-rescue effort, and workers would continue sifting through the rubble, listening and looking for signs of life.
"We're not leaving anybody behind," Burkett said Wednesday. "This is going to go until we pull everyone out of there."
Families have also expressed frustration over possible severe weather in the coming days that may cause further delays in massive search and rescue efforts that include hundreds of rescuers rotating in 12-hour shifts at the site. President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he and first lady Jill Biden would visit the site of the collapse Thursday.
Here's what we know Wednesday:
President Joe Biden visit:Biden is going to Florida on Thursday to visit site of collapsed condo building
Biden visit:5 things to watch as president meets with victims' families
State Attorney plans to pursue grand jury investigation
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at a Tuesday news conference that she is working with experts to identify reforms in building standards and other changes "to ensure a tragedy like this will never, ever happen again."
State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said she would pursue a grand jury investigation into what led to the collapse.
Levine Cava said she fully supports such an inquiry. Asked what the grand jury would be looking for, Levine Cava said, "Like all of us, answers."
“We have people waiting and waiting and waiting for news,” Levine Cava told reporters. “We have them coping with the news that they might not have their loved ones come out alive and still hope against hope that they will. They’re learning that some of their loved ones will come out as body parts. This is the kind of information that is just excruciating for everyone.”
The scrutiny won't end there. On Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden believes the reasons for the collapse need to be investigated, and various federal agencies are already providing expertise.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology – an arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce that also investigated the 9/11 terrorist attack – has already indicated it will examine the disaster, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state could get involved if necessary.
State Sen. Jason Pizzo isn't waiting. He told the USA TODAY Network that he plans to file legislation that would likely focus on building requirements, reinspection standards for older buildings, the risk of seawater intrusion and the financial obligations of condominium associations.
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Crews battle weather, time in identifying victims
Emergency crews aren't just battling summer weather, smoldering fire and dangerous debris in their race to find unaccounted-for victims. They're fighting time, heat, water and other factors that will make it harder to identify the dead.
The longer the search takes, the more likely it is that human remains will have decomposed significantly, making DNA identification more challenging, experts say.
Investigators first look for clothing or for IDs in victims' pockets or purses. However, most residents were asleep and may not have been wearing easily identifiable clothing and may not have had their driver's licenses.
The bodies of many victims may have been crushed in the collapse, making easy identification impossible. The next option for investigators is to look for teeth and dental work, which can be compared with dental X-rays. They look for signs of medical implants, which might have identification numbers, and check fingerprints against official records.
But the force of tons of rubble may have pulverized jawbones and teeth. Exposure to South Florida's heat, humidity and rainfall, plus a smoldering fire, water and other liquids in the rubble may have obliterated fingerprints, said Victor Weedn, Maryland's chief medical examiner and a DNA expert on the faculty of George Washington University's Department of Forensic Sciences.
– Kevin McCoy and Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY
Time, weather, conditions:The extremely difficult task of identifying Miami condo victims.
Families voice frustration over weather delays
Possible severe weather in the coming days may cause delays in search and rescue efforts, Kevin Guthrie, of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said Wednesday.
Guthrie said his team was working with the National Hurricane Center and state meteorologist to develop contingency plans for severe weather, including tropical cyclones, adding that they may need to free up state assets centered at the site of the collapse in order to respond to severe weather. On Tuesday, Guthrie said the threat of severe weather had prompted state officials to ask the federal government for the additional team.
"If a system does develop, we have a contingency plan ... of how we'll continue to respond here while responding to the hurricane," Guthrie said.
Two storm systems in the Atlantic may become tropical systems in the coming days, but it's unclear whether they may affect the U.S., according to the National Hurricane Center.
Rescue officials on Tuesday afternoon sounded a horn for a second time during the day’s work, signaling for workers to temporarily evacuate for an approaching storm with lightning.
Burkett, the Surfside mayor, said he has received questions from frustrated family members about why rescue efforts halt during thunderstorms.
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Officials ask for donations to support grieving families
People can send donations to families affected by the condo collapse at supportsurfside.org. Officials cautioned that one fake donation website has already been reported.
Over the course of two press conferences, Burkett told the story of 12-year-old Ellie Shella, who lost her father and her uncle to the collapse.
Burkett said he met Ellie at the site.
"When I came across her, she was sitting in a chair by herself with nobody around her, looking at her phone," he said. "She was reading a Jewish prayer to herself, sitting at the site by where one of her parents presumably is."
That really brought it home to me. She wasn't crying, she was just lost."
On Tuesday evening, he spoke about the financial distress Ellie's mother is in. Ellie's father was the provider for the family, and now the family has lost that safety net.
Ellie's mother has asked for assistance for her family. Burkett said he personally told her story to Coral Gables Community Foundation CEO Mary Snow. The organization operates the website supportsurfside.org and has collected $1.9 million in donations.
"It's working, your donations are having an impact," Burkett said.
Remembering those who have died
Authorities released the names of victims who have been identified: Marcus Joseph Guara, 52; Frank Kleiman, 55; Michael Davis Altman, 50; Leon Oliwkowicz, 80; Luis Bermudez, 26, and his mother Ana Ortiz, 46; Christina Beatriz Elvira de Oliwkowicz, 74, who was married to Leon Oliwkowicz; Antonio Lozano, 83; Gladys Lozano, 79; Manuel LaFont, 54; and Hilda Noriega, 92.
The first victim to be identified was Stacie Fang, 54, whose 15-year-old son was pulled alive from the wreckage.
Hilda Noriega was the latest victim to be identified, and her family was notified Tuesday evening. In a statement, the Noriega family thanked first responders and officials for identifying Hilda.
"The Noriegas have lost the 'heart and soul' and 'matriarch' of their family but will get through this time by embracing the unconditional love Hilda was known for," the statement said. "The family has asked for privacy as they deal with this horrific and painful loss."
Survivors search for pets lost in rubble
Many survivors are also desperate to find their pets who are missing amid the rubble.
The Friends of Miami Animals Foundation announced Tuesday a hotline for residents searching for pets and hopes to create a database of the missing animals.
Two cats – Mia and Coco – are the only animals believed to possibly still be inside the part of Champlain Towers South that is still standing and has been evacuated, according to the Friends of Miami Animal Foundation.
The foundation has had several residents reach out regarding their missing pets, but the only two who were known for sure to be left in the building are Mia and Coco, a representative for the foundation told USA TODAY.
Miami Dade County & Miami Dade Animal Services are aware of the missing pets reported and are prepared to "respond as needed," according to a statement from the foundation.
Local business owners overwhelmed
Surfside business owners were so overwhelmed by last week's tragedy that it took some of them several days to return to work.
Martie Robbins, owner of 7th Plateau jewelry store, lives in Hollywood, Florida. But her shop has had a Surfside presence for 50 years, just blocks from the collapse that has so far claimed 12 lives.
“I couldn’t even come into work until yesterday,” Robbins said Tuesday. “I didn’t want to open the store, I didn’t want to, you know. Like who cares about this versus that tragedy?”
While she may not know them all by name, Robbins can see the faces of her clients in portraits of the missing and the dead.
Abe and Peggy Sreter, owners of The Carrot kosher restaurant, live nearby in Bal Harbour.
Sreter said she has three friends who survived the collapse. But she also knows some of the missing, such as someone she counts a “customer and friend,” Brad Cohen. The Sreters and Cohen attend the same synagogue, The Shul of Bal Harbour.
Like Robbins, Sreter also stayed away from work for a few days, consumed by grief.
“It affected me mentally for a few days," Sreter said. "I felt like so sad to be here. But then yesterday I said that’s it, you have to come back, you have to attend your business.
– Maya Lora, the Lakeland Ledger
Contributing: Nate Monroe and Katherine Lewin, The Florida Times-Union; Maya Lora, the Lakeland Ledger; Rebecca Morin, Jennifer Sangalang, John Kennedy and Chelsey Cox, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
Contact News Now Reporter Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.
