7/13/2023 0 Comments Champlain tower south condo costI thought I’d fulfilled my civic obligations in 2004, but something shook me out of retirement. I’ve just been elected to the condominium association board where I live, a 16-story midcentury modern once known as the city’s “grand dame.” I had served on the board 14 years ago, at various times as secretary, treasurer, vice president, and president. Déjà vu tells me everything I need to know about the disaster. The condo board member in me wants to puke. It’s not an apartment building, it’s a condominium. Why wasn’t Champlain Towers South’s landlord on top of this? I swipe again.įuck. Whatever, there would have been telltale signs. Or maybe a festering foundation problem was the trigger. It would be rare, but a rusty gas line buttoned up in a mechanical room could leak and cause a major explosion. At some point, it’s either fix it up or tear it down. Anecdotally, the average life expectancy of a high-rise in the U.S. OK-that’s about when tall buildings start needing serious renovation. Oh my god, more than a hundred people are missing. What happened? My head races through possibilities as I swipe for details. The scene resembles a missile strike: shredded walls, twisted concrete, spaghetti rebar. Half a residential block fell in seconds. Sometime after midnight, sporadic tremors vibrating through a 12-story structure groaned, popped, then coalesced into a massive implosion. I open my iPhone one morning and read “Partial Building Collapse Near Miami.” Immediately, there’s a pit in my stomach. I am immune from bad news.Įxcept I’m not. continues to drop, driven by COVID-19.” Filed under “What, me worry?” I’ve adopted a Zen attitude of letting go of what I can’t control. NPR reports, “Life expectancy in the U.S. The New York Times claims, “An Unpredictable Pandemic Takes a Terrible Toll. “Virus’ ‘Unrelenting’ Spread Raises Alarm,” says the Houston Chronicle. Eighteen months into nonstop pandemic headlines, nothing fazes me anymore.
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