"On Thursday, July 1, the president and therefore the first lady will visit Surfside, Florida", the Biden administration said during a statement, adding that details for the trip would be provided later.
Deanne Criswell, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, updated the president on the tragedy after visiting the location on Sunday. On Tuesday morning, Criswell testified at a congressional hearing on FEMA’s readiness, saying the devastation was “difficult to place into words.” She apprised the Congress that FEMA has found out a “recovery centre that's working directly with families and loved ones impacted by this tragic event to urge them the help that they need”.
Amid intense speculations over the explanation for the deadly collapse, US media has reported on multiple warnings about the approaching tragedy. Almost three years before the deadly collapse, an engineer had warned about evidence of “major structural damage” to the concrete slab below the pool deck. within the October 2018 report, he had also highlighted “abundant” cracking and crumbling of the columns, beams and walls of the parking garage under the 12-storey building.
An April correspondence from the board president of Champlain Towers South, Jean Wodnicki, has shed more light on the condition of the structure. Weeks before the collapse, Wodnicki wrote to neighbours warning that the “garage has gotten significantly worse since the initial [2018] inspection”.
“When you'll visually see the concrete spalling (cracking), meaning that the rebar holding it together is rusting and deteriorating beneath the surface”, the letter read.
