Legal Cases Aim to Find Answers in Florida Building Collapse

 

The search continues for victims of the collapsed² Champlain Towers South condominium building in Surfside, Florida. And the process of seeking answers about why it fell and who is to blame has already started in the state legal system.

Officials have opened criminal and civil investigations³ into the collapse¹ of the building. Late Wednesday, rescue workers ended their two-week search for survivors⁴, and are now just looking for the dead. Officials said there was "no chance of life" under the destroyed building.

The Associated Press reports that at least 54 bodies have been found and 86 people are missing. Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said she would bring the issue to a grand jury. A grand jury gathers evidence and could recommend criminal charges or rule changes.

Additionally, residents of the building have brought at least six legal cases. Jeffrey Goodman is a lawyer representing the children of missing resident Harold Rosenberg.

"We deserve to be able to walk into buildings without worrying that they're going to come crumbling⁵ around us," he said.

The legal cases accuse the Champlain Towers South Condominium Association of failing to deal with serious problems. Structural⁶ problems were first seen in 2018.

Some of the cases also name a local architect and engineer. Goodman's legal group said the town of Surfside will also face legal action. The town's building inspector⁷ had been involved in the discussions about the structural problems.

"The role of building owners and architects and engineers and inspectors⁸ and safety professionals is to make sure that buildings are safe," Goodman said.

At a hearing Friday, a judge appointed a lawyer to represent the condominium association. The board has about $48 million in insurance coverage⁹. The land is worth $30 to $50 million, the judge was told.

The judge said he hoped the lawsuits¹⁰ would end quickly. Until then, he permitted the association's lawyer to provide $10,000 each to residents for temporary housing and $2,000 to cover funeral costs.

A similar case took place in 2013. The wall of a building in Philadelphia was being demolished¹² and collapsed. The wall fell onto a store next to it, killing¹³ six people and injuring 13.

In the trials that followed, a civil jury found the building's owner and his architect responsible. They paid $227 million in damages.

Criminal charges also were brought. A contractor¹⁴ was found not found guilty of third-degree murder, but received a sentence of 15 to 30 years for involuntary manslaughter.

The collapse also led the city of Philadelphia to pass stronger rules for demolitions¹⁵.

And in Florida, a grand jury is still investigating the 2018 collapse of a walking bridge at Florida International University that killed six people.

Denis Binder¹⁶ is a law professor at Chapman University in California. He is an expert in disaster cases. He said more victims are seeking criminal charges, in addition to financial damages.

"I think it's increasing because of the media and social media," as "everybody's horrified¹⁷ by what they can see. And there's this cry for justice," Binder said.

He added that there is "evidence already [in Surfside] that people have made bad decisions."

Officials said they would continue the search efforts until they find the remains¹⁸ of every one of the missing.

Words in This Story

condominium— n. a room or set of rooms that is owned by the people who live there and that is part of a larger building containing other similar sets of rooms

resident — n. someone who lives in a particular place

deserve –v. used to say that someone should or should not have or be given something

crumble¹⁹ — v. to break (something) into small pieces

architect — n. a person who designs buildings

role –n. the part someone plays in an activity or situation

demolish¹¹ — v. to destroy (a building, bridge, etc.) : to forcefully tear down or take apart (a structure)

involuntary — n. not done by choice

manslaughter — n. the crime of killing a person without intending to do so

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

3 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

4 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

5 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

6 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

7 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

8 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

10 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

11 demolish   

v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等)

参考例句：

• They're going to demolish that old building.他们将拆毁那座旧建筑物。
• He was helping to demolish an underground garage when part of the roof collapsed.他当时正在帮忙拆除一个地下汽车库，屋顶的一部份突然倒塌。

12 demolished   

v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。
• They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来，为了不让拆除他们的房子，他们一直在进行最后的努力。

13 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

14 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

15 demolitions   

n.毁坏，破坏，拆毁( demolition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Randy Couture as Toll Road, an Expendable and demolitions expert. 大卫·萨亚斯饰演加尔扎将军，邪恶的独裁者。 来自互联网
• Allied Demolitions upgrade moved one slot to the left on the Allied HQ UI. 盟军的爆破升级在指挥部界面中左移一格（由于现在没钳子升级了，所以填钳子的位置）。 来自互联网

16 binder   

n.包扎物，包扎工具；[法]临时契约；粘合剂；装订工

参考例句：

• The cloth flower snaps on with a special binder.这布花是用一种特殊的粘合剂固定住的。
• Purified water was used as liquid binder.纯净水作为液体粘合剂。

17 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

18 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

19 crumble   

vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁

参考例句：

• Opposition more or less crumbled away.反对势力差不多都瓦解了。
• Even if the seas go dry and rocks crumble,my will will remain firm.纵然海枯石烂，意志永不动摇。