We have new information about
the condo building
collapse in Surfside Florida.
This is near Miami and thanks to
a contractor who actually took
photos of some of these significant
structural damage just 36 hours
before the unexpected collapse.
We have some visuals to really see
what the structural integrity of
the building was.
Now, I want to be clear that this
isn't the end all be all there
still needs to be a thorough
investigation into
what happened here.
But as of this video 11 people have
died.
The number is expected to increase
because 150 people are still
missing.
Now a pool contractor who had been
touring the building to place a bid
on some of the repairs and cosmetic
changes to the pool had taken some
photos of what the area looked like
because he noticed that there was
significant structural issues like
there was structural damage,
he was concerned about.
So as the Miami Herald reports,
there was standing water all over
the parking garage,
the contractor who asked not to be
named told the Miami Herald.
He noted cracking concrete and
severely corroded rebar under
the pool.
Now the rebar is obviously
an important part of the structural
integrity of the building and
if the rebar is severely
corroded that's clearly an issue.
Now the contractor noted
that the amount of water he
saw seemed unusual.
So unusual that he made a note to
one of the building staff
members by the name of Jose.
Jose told him that the pumped,
the pool equipment room so
frequently that the building had to
replace pump motors every two
years, but he never mentioned
anything about structural damage or
cracks in the concrete above.
And by the way,
this wasn't the only documented
problem by the contractor.
In the pool equipment room located
on the south side of the
underground garage the contractor
saw exposed and corroding rebar in
the concrete slab overhead.
So now we're hearing about so many
different reports you have this
contractor who was there to fix
the pool, he shares these images.
Let's just take a look.
You can see some of the corrosion,
you can see the cracks in
the concrete.
Let's look at the other photo gives
you a sense of
what the situation looks like.
Well, and again, the photos don't
necessarily mean that the damage
that we're seeing is in fact, what
caused the building to collapse,
I want to be clear about that.
But we had the inspection that took
place in 2018, indicating
that the structural integrity of
the building was compromised.
We now have these photos from
the contractor who was by the way
there to do pool repairs and
things like that.
I mean, how many warnings do
you need?
And then we also know that
Miami Dade has this regulation
where buildings need to be
recertified every 40 years, maybe
you need to do the certification
process every 10 years instead.
>> Yes.
So when I first came to America in
1978 I was amazed by the lack of
potholes and how everything seems
smooth, the bigger highways etc.
because I came from Turkey and
at that point the roads
relatively smaller.
Do we say big cities like Istanbul
but there'd be plenty of issues and
the government wouldn't
get to it for a long time, right?
And yes,
from time to time things would
crumble because they weren't built
with any code or very weak codes.
Or they would cheat on the coding
because corruption was rampant.
And one of the great things that I
loved about this country was
things actually work, right?
Those days are gone.
So you have a building that's in
massive disrepair.
They know it since 2018.
Now let's see if it falls, right?
We are at now in Portland because
the heat, the roads are cracking it
all over the Northwest.
Giant pavements are cracking,
the wires are melting.
In Texas the energy grid doesn't
work in the winter or the summer.
And nobody treats us as
an emergency.
At least in Turkey all the way back
in 1978 when big events
like that happen,
it would still be an emergency.
Here in America we are like yeah.
Okay I mean, it's not like they
don't think it's an emergency that
the building fell, right, but
is it treated like an emergency?
My god.
Hey, let's make sure that all of
the apartments nearby in Miami
are inspected and not inspected
once every 40 years or etc.
But especially if they
were built a long time ago,
we should have a process for making
sure that things don't crumble.
>> Right. >> We should make
a private process for making sure
the energy grid in Texas works.
Nope, nope, because now
corporations run everything.
So it doesn't really matter.
You're not going to get here.
In this case, it's a condo.
So there's no one boogeyman there,
right?
And the individuals own their
apartments as we explained
yesterday.
But it's the general attitude of
the government >> Yes.
>> The thing should not be
regulated because if you're
going to regulate things,
nine out of 10 times you're
regulating a corporation and not 10
times they're donating to you and
don't want you regulating them.
>> Right, so typically what happens
in these types of buildings were
there private units, right?
They're owned by individuals.
It's not like there's a landlord
who's in charge of everything.
The Homeowner's Association is
made up of individuals who
live in the building, right?
Who own the units.
They're normal people like us,
and they're not experts in the
structural integrity of buildings.
They're not going to necessarily
know whether or not the rebar is
corroded or there are some issues
that need to be looked at.
Which is why the regulation of
recertifying buildings every
40 years is just not adequate.
It isn't adequate, especially when
you also put climate related
issues into the equation, right?
So now there's this big question
about whether these coastal
properties are at risk
as a result of rising sea levels.
That was something that David Day
was tweeting about today.
You should check out his work,
because he made a lot of
good points in that thread.
But nonetheless, is there
a management company that was hired
by the HOA and did the management
company miss something?
because right now I'm seeing
multiple lawsuits being filed
against the HOA, and
I just know what HOA is like, they
volunteer to be part of the HOA.
It's awful, and
they don't know what they're doing.
It's a mess.
Yes, there's mismanagement because
they are normal people that are
just volunteering their time to do
this and like I feel bad for them.
This is a failure on
a governmental level.
>> And but guys,
when the government or
a contractor tells you, hey,
you should fix the concrete and
the steel bars that are holding
up the apartment, fix it.
>> Immediately.
>> Yeah, and not only that,
when the government does regulation
on the few places where they do,
they were still left and
it's going to cost you
a little bit of money, do it.
They're not just trying to take
your money for the sake of taking
your money, they're trying to
protect your life, right?
And so >> It wasn't a little bit of
money though, the repairs were so
expensive that each unit was,
they wanted to do
what's called a special assessment.
Special assessment is we're
going to have to charge each unit
a certain amount of money to do
this giant repair, right?
The special assessment would have
been $25,000 per unit.
And some people they're on a fixed
income, they're retired,
they didn't have the money, so
there was a lot of pushback from
individuals who own the units.
So that's why when you read about
the lawsuits and stuff,
it's actually a lot more
complicated than I think
the reporting indicates.
>> Yeah, no, I understand that and
I saw it and
25,000 is a devastating amount.
I totally get that.
Obviously, having the building
collapses more depth, >> Yeah,
of course.
>> So in this case,
it's a very complicated issue
because of the HOA situation.
In most cases it's not as
complicated.
So for example, same Miami I just
remembered when I had my wedding in
Miami, we were staying in a hotel.
And for one of the guests,
the roof of the bathroom collapsed
in the hotel, right?
>> What? >> So, I mean,
look, Miami is collapsing all over
the place.
And so
we got to make sure that we're
doing things based on code.
There's a reason for the code.
If you're in California it's
because of earthquakes.
In Miami there's nonstop corrosion
because of the weather.
And so we have to be careful about
regulations, they're not for
no reason.
They're supposed to be to
save your life.
And you see this unfortunately
a situation where they could
have but they didn't.
Although the ownership case in this
situation, >> Yeah.
>> Is more complicated.
>> Listen, don't drink
Dave Reubens Kool Aid.
Okay, Yelp reviews are not going to
get developers and
contractors to do the right thing.
>> Yeah, the libertarian.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah, now after the building
collapses people won't live in
it anymore.
>> Okay.
>> Yes after we've lost 150 lives
you morons.