SURFSIDE, Fla. (NBC) – Rescuers in south Florida are working around the clock, hoping to find survivors in the rubble of a residential building after the structure unexpectedly crashed to the ground early Thursday morning. At least four people did not survive the collapse and more than a 150 are still missing.
The updates in Surfside, Florida are coming in and they are not what many people want to hear. mIami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava let us know this morning that the number, as of late morning Eastern Standard Time, was 159 unaccounted for in this tragedy. But 120 who are accounted for that number is up from 100 the day before. But the 159 figure is 50% higher than it was just 24 hours ago.
An excavator was seen literally ripping chunks of the building out, removing balconies. What this has to do with the ongoing search and rescue efforts to find any possible survivors is unclear. But we do know that these are very dangerous conditions under which these first responders are operating right now. They’re some of the most experienced in the world at getting into rubble and trying to find people who could be trapped.
But there is debris that is falling, there is rain that has been down pouring all day on and off creating very dangerous conditions but they move on. We’re talking about 130 firefighters and first responders across the state of Florida.
FEMA is now also on the ground with other at the state, local, and federal levels.
The efforts continue Friday morning to try to find anybody who might still be alive in that rubble.
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