Mass casualty building collapse in Miami

[RDCanecutter 26411]

1 minute ago, DDD Dad said:

Let me be the first to thank you for posting this in plain text.  /spystud

I'm trying to figure out how to post everything in rich text from now on.

[phdhorn 6224]

3 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

Let me be the first to thank you for posting this in plain text.  /spystud

I thought that was Derka_Operational or whomever.

[DDD Dad 14332]

7 minutes ago, phdhorn said:

I thought that was Derka_Operational or whomever.

Nah, 2.0 is spystud, so I'm told.  But you should PM Derka or Shadow_Operative (not 2.0) to be sure.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

In the pic showing the bare conc. and painted conc.piers, w/ the collapsed parking deck around it  I'm not seeing any evidence of a cast conc. beam at the pier where the conc. slab has dropped below the bare conc. into the painted region.  You can see the rebar stripped of conc. drooping down to the ground at all sides of the piers. 

I can't imagine the conc. deck was simply supported by the piers, and a web of rebar, but I am simply not seeing anything on the pier at the bare conc. along  the slab line (just below specifically) that indicates any kind of beam connection.  There would typically be something in the neighborhood of a 12"-16" deep by probably 12" wide cast  in place conc. beam running into each pier in a grid system over the entire slab footprint.  

Maybe something was cast in the conc. that failed because of salt water corrosion ?  Never seen a detail like that so not sure what it would be, and a slab collapsing at ground level shouldn't bring a building down, the pier is still intact (the visible portion at least).  If this was a sink hole related issue the price of Miami real estate just pancaked.  I for one hope it was human error for Miamis sake (neither alternative is very appealing though).

[Trey3216 15346]

20 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

I'm trying to figure out how to post everything in rich text from now on.

Surly 1% approves  

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

26 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

I'm trying to figure out how to post everything in rich text from now on.

Dude, just replace all the "s" with "$" and sign off with "Cheerio".   

[crash_davis 23107]

29 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

I'm trying to figure out how to post everything in rich text from now on.

post in lumber

[Brisketexan 105095]

26 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

I'm trying to figure out how to post everything in rich text from now on.

 

5 minutes ago, Trey3216 said:

Surly 1% approves  

I try to post in rich Corinthian leather.

[Deej 76759]

23 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

In the pic showing the bare conc. and painted conc.piers, w/ the collapsed parking deck around it  I'm not seeing any evidence of a cast conc. beam at the pier where the conc. slab has dropped below the bare conc. into the painted region.  You can see the rebar stripped of conc. drooping down to the ground at all sides of the piers. 

I can't imagine the conc. deck was simply supported by the piers, and a web of rebar, but I am simply not seeing anything on the pier at the bare conc. along  the slab line (just below specifically) that indicates any kind of beam connection.  There would typically be something in the neighborhood of a 12"-16" deep by probably 12" wide cast  in place conc. beam running into each pier in a grid system over the entire slab footprint.  

Maybe something was cast in the conc. that failed because of salt water corrosion ?  Never seen a detail like that so not sure what it would be, and a slab collapsing at ground level shouldn't bring a building down, the pier is still intact (the visible portion at least).  If this was a sink hole related issue the price of Miami real estate just pancaked.  I for one hope it was human error for Miamis sake (neither alternative is very appealing though).

Say "conc." one more time

 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

8 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

 

I try to post in rich Corinthian leather.

The laugh is on us.  Those things are worth about $25K in running condition.  Yeah there are actually some!  

[Brisketexan 105095]

2 minutes ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

The laugh is on us.  Those things are worth about $25K in running condition.  Yeah there are actually some!  

Bullshit.  I seriously doubt that you can find a Ricardo Montalban in running condition.

[tbone_ 14115]

I would legit drive a 79 Cordoba

[South Austin 52463]

Hey, did you guys hear that a condominium building collapsed in Miami?

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

12 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Hey, did you guys hear that a condominium building collapsed in Miami?

Because it was not reinforced with Corinthian leather, my friend.  

[Jiggy-Z 3432]

1 hour ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

In the pic showing the bare conc. and painted conc.piers, w/ the collapsed parking deck around it  I'm not seeing any evidence of a cast conc. beam at the pier where the conc. slab has dropped below the bare conc. into the painted region.  You can see the rebar stripped of conc. drooping down to the ground at all sides of the piers. 

I can't imagine the conc. deck was simply supported by the piers, and a web of rebar, but I am simply not seeing anything on the pier at the bare conc. along  the slab line (just below specifically) that indicates any kind of beam connection.  There would typically be something in the neighborhood of a 12"-16" deep by probably 12" wide cast  in place conc. beam running into each pier in a grid system over the entire slab footprint.  

Maybe something was cast in the conc. that failed because of salt water corrosion ?  Never seen a detail like that so not sure what it would be, and a slab collapsing at ground level shouldn't bring a building down, the pier is still intact (the visible portion at least).  If this was a sink hole related issue the price of Miami real estate just pancaked.  I for one hope it was human error for Miamis sake (neither alternative is very appealing though).

The stripped area looks pretty thick there between the paint (10" or so) .  Perhaps they dropped the slab around the column.  No need to have a 10" parking deck.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

1 hour ago, Deej said:

Say "conc." one more time

 

 

COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONC.....

Edited June 28, 2021 by Onboard 2.0

[Jiggy-Z 3432]

1 hour ago, tbone_ said:

I would legit drive a 79 Cordoba

My first classical guitar was a Cordoba C5, what a piece of shit.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

7 minutes ago, Jiggy-Z said:

The stripped area looks pretty thick there between the paint (10" or so) .  Perhaps they dropped the slab around the column.  No need to have a 10" parking deck.

That's not really thick when you're talking about many tons in a concentrated line.  I would have expected too see a pretty beefed up rebar pattern at the piers as well.

[Jiggy-Z 3432]

15 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

That's not really thick when you're talking about many tons in a concentrated line.  I would have expected too see a pretty beefed up rebar pattern at the piers as well.

Looks like a double mat at the column, but yeah, no hidden beam rebar up in there.

[Nicole44 22059]

Oh…damn…

There was nothing unusual about the lobby and pool area at Champlain Towers South condo, which looked clean and well maintained to a commercial pool contractor who visited the building last Tuesday, just 36 hours before half of the building unexpectedly collapsed. Then, he saw the basement-level garage.

“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. 

He also took photos, which he shared with the Herald.

While he had worked in the industry for decades and had “gone in some scary places,” he said he was struck by the lack of maintenance in the lower level. The amount of water at Champlain Towers seemed so unusual that the contractor mentioned it to a building staff member, Jose, who was showing him around. 

“He thought it was waterproofing issues,” the contractor said of the staff member. “I thought to myself, that’s not normal.” He said Jose told him they 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.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article252421658.html
 

I don’t know how to post in Ricardo Montalban…or Corinthian Leather…or lumber…holy shit that’s bad…replacing the pool pumps like that. Omg. Pics he took are at link. 

 

[Jiggy-Z 3432]

19 minutes ago, Nicole44 said:

Oh…damn…

There was nothing unusual about the lobby and pool area at Champlain Towers South condo, which looked clean and well maintained to a commercial pool contractor who visited the building last Tuesday, just 36 hours before half of the building unexpectedly collapsed. Then, he saw the basement-level garage.

“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. 

He also took photos, which he shared with the Herald.

While he had worked in the industry for decades and had “gone in some scary places,” he said he was struck by the lack of maintenance in the lower level. The amount of water at Champlain Towers seemed so unusual that the contractor mentioned it to a building staff member, Jose, who was showing him around. 

“He thought it was waterproofing issues,” the contractor said of the staff member. “I thought to myself, that’s not normal.” He said Jose told him they 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.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article252421658.html
 

I don’t know how to post in Ricardo Montalban…or Corinthian Leather…or lumber…holy shit that’s bad…replacing the pool pumps like that. Omg. Pics he took are at link. 

 

From the article:

The rectangular area is still standing.  However, the ellipse shaped area in in the area where the video shows the initial collapse.

Also, I just read a CNN article that had one of the tenants talking to her husband moments before or during the collapse. Where she said "there was a sinkhole that opened up where the pool was".  Clearly the pool is still there so perhaps she meant the pool deck and perhaps what she saw was the pool deck collapsing onto the lower parking areas before the main building started its fall.  I believe she was in one of the collapsed sections so no follow up yet from her.

 

[Nicole44 22059]

 

[Nicole44 22059]

 

[bolverk 29659]

Just heard on the radio that there are still tenants living in the part of the tower that hasn't yet collapsed. WTF?!?

[Nicole44 22059]

She is 88 years old and has lived in Champlain Towers for 40 years.

Now, Esther Gorfinkel is living with her son and daughter-in-law and thanking the neighbors who helped her out of the building as it collapsed to the ground on Thursday in the wee hours of the morning.

“Who would think that something like this would happen at 1:30 in the morning? In your life? In my old age that I would see something so horrible like this?” Gorfinkel said.

She was in her fifth floor apartment when she said she was in bed and her whole apartment shook. She was wearing just a nightgown when she got up to see what was happening.

“I put on a house coat,” Gorfinkel said.

Alone and unsure of what happened and wearing only slippers on her feet, she headed down the stairwell, slowly and in shock, she said.

When she reached the garage, help appeared behind her. A group of neighbors from the 11th floor were there and carried her to safety.

“They push me out and we got into water. And then they push me, push me and push me. There was a lot of debris and we saw a hole that you can see outside. They push me. They pick me up,” Gorfinkel said.

She said a man hung her on his back.

“I saw the sky. I knew I will be safe,” Gorfinkel said.

Local 10 News interviewed Albert Aguero last week. He was one of the men who carried the elderly woman out.

“She was obviously shaken. She was like, ‘I’ve lived a good life. I’m good. I was like, ‘No, no, you’re going to make it to your 89th birthday, I promise.’ And we got her out,” Aguero said.

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2021/06/28/88-year-old-surfside-condo-survivor-remembers-those-who-helped-her-to-safety/
 

the rest of what she says is just too hard to post. Losing her friends and neighbors. Her two birds. All of her pictures and albums. 🥺

 

[phdhorn 6224]

1 hour ago, South Austin said:

Hey, did you guys hear that a condominium building collapsed in Miami?

Quit threadshitting, take it to CR.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

10 minutes ago, Nicole44 said:

She is 88 years old and has lived in Champlain Towers for 40 years.  Alone and unsure of what happened and wearing only slippers on her feet, she headed down the stairwell.

 

 

This is the scariest part of her story.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

17 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Just heard on the radio that there are still tenants living in the part of the tower that hasn't yet collapsed. WTF?!?

I am floored by this fact.

[atomheartbevo 89645]

6 hours ago, Jiggy-Z said:

You could not pay me to work on that site.  the whole thing still looks sketchy as shit.

Those columns that support the building above the parking garage seem awfully thin (I know there are columns that have to be much thicker and farther back that we don't see).

[atomheartbevo 89645]

10 hours ago, Fuck Tim Beck said:

Wait. The building was 13 stories? Well there's the problem! 

 

[atomheartbevo 89645]

4 hours ago, crash_davis said:

Will be interesting to see how they can determine anything in all that rubble. "hey look, a big broken piece of concrete. here's another. omg, here's another."

I guess they can rule out if a blast or some sort of incendiary device was the catalyst. Short of that, it'll all look like broken concrete. But what do I know.

If it had been a blast, we should have seen it in the videos, even if it was below ground.

The sinkhole thing should be fairly easy to spot, and if something had been leaking water for years/decades, that should be obvious as well.  That and the guy that took those photos of the cracks/leaks really helps out.

 

 

[atomheartbevo 89645]

3 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

The laugh is on us.  Those things are worth about $25K in running condition.  Yeah there are actually some!  

3 hours ago, tbone_ said:

I would legit drive a 79 Cordoba

Damn straight.

 

 

 

[Gatorubet 30208]

the rest of what she says is just too hard to post. Losing her friends and neighbors. Her two birds. All of her pictures and albums.
 

I pray that she never learns her two birds weren’t real.

[Nicole44 22059]

On Wednesday night, Steve Rosenthal was among the people who trusted Champlain Towers South, at 8777 Collins Ave., was safe enough to sleep in. The 72-year-old resident of Unit 705 said he woke up to “the loudest thunderclap” he had ever heard in his life. Five seconds later, his bed was rocking and shaking. Dust was coming in from the ceiling and hitting him in the face.

“I go to my front door, it leads to the hallway, all dust don’t see a thing,” Rosenthal said. “I’m seeing all the rubble, all the cement, the ceiling, everything is falling down and people are yelling, ‘Help me! Help me get me out!’”

The 12-story northern section of the L-shaped building collapsed shortly before 2 a.m. Residents of neighboring buildings said they too woke up to loud noise. Some said their windows shook and there was a large white cloud of dust. Rosenthal said there was no way for him to get out of his apartment, which was the last line standing.

“If I am in 704, I am dead,” Rosenthal said Monday. “I am the first unit that survived on that side.”

Fire Rescue personnel moved to evacuate trapped survivors with a cherry picker. Rosenthal said the process was agonizingly slow. People waited for their turns in their balconies hoping the rest of the building would hold.

“Finally they get up to the 7th floor. They pull me in. It’s not that easy to get into it. You’ve got railings ... they gotta pull you in,” Rosenthal said, adding he is grieving for the neighbors who didn’t make it out alive.
https://www.local10.com/news/local/2021/06/28/surfside-collapse-survivor-blames-homeowner-associations-alleged-negligence-for-tragedy/

[immortal13 4059]

4 hours ago, South Austin said:

Hey, did you guys hear that a condominium building collapsed in Miami?

No, the posting guidelines must have not been followed. Call the authorities!

[atomheartbevo 89645]

1 hour ago, Gatorubet said:

I pray that she never learns her two birds weren’t real.

[C-Man 27214]

This doesn’t sound too good: https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/28/us/surfside-condo-owners-assessments-invs/index.html

[atomheartbevo 89645]

Wow.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/28/us/surfside-condo-owners-assessments-invs/index.html

Quote

Condo owners in the South Florida tower that collapsed last week were facing assessments for millions of dollars worth of repairs -- with payments set to begin a week after the building's deadly fall.

The Champlain Towers South condo association approved a $15 million assessment in April to complete repairs required under the county's 40-year recertification process, according to documents obtained by CNN. 

Quote

The documents show that more than two years had passed after association members received a report about "major structural damage" in the building before they started the assessment process to pay for necessary repairs. 

Owners would have to pay assessments ranging from $80,190 for one-bedroom units to $336,135 for the owner of the building's four-bedroom penthouse, a document sent to the building's residents said. The deadline to pay upfront or choose paying a monthly fee lasting 15 years was July 1.

Quote

An itemized list of planned repairs included new pavers, planter landscape and waterproofing -- addressing some of the issues noted in a 2018 engineer's report, which warned how leaking water was leading to deteriorating concrete. The most costly project listed was "facade, balcony and railing repairs," for $3.4 million. 

The 2018 report, prepared for the condo association, had previously estimated that necessary repairs to the Surfside, Fla. building would cost about $9.1 million. It's unclear whether the issues identified by Frank Morabito, the structural engineer who produced the report, contributed to the disaster. 

The big assessment bill came as an unwelcome surprise to some owners of the building's 136 units. 

Quote

"We struggled with it and everything," said Isabel Aguero, who owns an 11th-floor condo in the part of the building that stayed standing. She said she thought most of the line items appeared to be more for aesthetic improvements instead of structural fixes to the building -- such as $722,000 for "hallway and public area renovations." 

Aguero and her husband decided to go with the monthly payment, and sent in the paperwork on June 23 so the association would start adding $593 to their homeowner fees, they said. Early the next morning, the building collapsed. 

The couple bought their condo two years ago with plans to retire there. But they said they hadn't spent much time in it, as their renovations and furniture deliveries were delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Quote

He said that there had been work on the building's roof since earlier this year "that would wake us up every morning with drilling." But larger structural construction had not yet begun, according to a statement from the engineering firm that conducted the 2018 report.

Albert said he was distressed reading the warnings in the 2018 report, which he never saw until after the building fell. 

"I was pretty angry at that point, angry that innocent lives had to be lost," he said.

Since the collapse, the condo association has received scrutiny for the years-long delay between the alarming 2018 report and the building's overhaul. Its representatives have noted that they were delayed by the pandemic and had to take the time to issue competitive bids for the work.

"We have board members who are living here, had their families living here, and are among the missing, so if they knew there was a hazardous issue, they certainly would have taken care of it," Donna DiMaggio Berger, an attorney for the Champlain Towers condo association, told CNN on Friday. 

One official from the town of Surfside had previously assured the association that their building was "in very good shape" in November 2018, meeting minutes obtained by CNN show -- even though he had received the report about structural damage two days earlier.

 

[tokamak 6409]

Obviously there's a whole lot more going on here, but every single time I'm in a concrete parking garage, I think about how many wives have backed into all those columns over the years.

[crash_davis 23107]

My UT daughter informed me that a girl she knows in one of the Texas sororities has confirmed dead (uncle? I don't quite remember) and missing (brother) family members in all that rubble. Daughter showed me the Instagram pic that the girl posted of her and her missing brother asking for any information on him.

Damn heart breaking.

So this does hit the UTexas community.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13510]

I don't have extensive history with condo boards, assessments and votes, but what I do have is all negative. Every owner brings their own future vision, current needs and bank account balances to the discussion. Ultimately there is a majority view which may not be the best for the long term benefit to the condos.

I've experienced boards treat optional repairs as mandatory, so if they go back to the owners with an actual mandatory expense, it can be met with trepidation if not mistrust. Not to mention that personal feelings and petty fights go into the mix. And no one would ever believe a board stating that the building is about to collapse.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

13 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

If it had been a blast, we should have seen it in the videos, even if it was below ground.

The sinkhole thing should be fairly easy to spot, and if something had been leaking water for years/decades, that should be obvious as well.  That and the guy that took those photos of the cracks/leaks really helps out.

 

 

My gut feeling is still that a drunk asshole drove into the parking garage and hit a corroded column.

[South Austin 52463]

1 minute ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

My gut feeling is still that a drunk asshole drove into the parking garage and hit a corroded column.

Maybe, but is it possible that hitting one out of many structural building columns would result in a collapse like that?  I guess so if the structural integrity of a bunch of other columns had withered away.

[Leeroy Jenkins 2402]

On 6/26/2021 at 2:01 PM, Buzzrock said:

159 still missing after three days is awful. Is this the fastest they can work?

No.  They are going slow on purpose so people can die.  smh

[tokamak 6409]

23 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I don't have extensive history with condo boards, assessments and votes, but what I do have is all negative. Every owner brings their own future vision, current needs and bank account balances to the discussion. Ultimately there is a majority view which may not be the best for the long term benefit to the condos.

I've experienced boards treat optional repairs as mandatory, so if they go back to the owners with an actual mandatory expense, it can be met with trepidation if not mistrust. Not to mention that personal feelings and petty fights go into the mix. And no one would ever believe a board stating that the building is about to collapse.

This is 100% human nature.

• "Holy shit our building is gonna collapse, we need to fix it!!"
• "OMG!! OK....how much is the bill?"
• "Well, it's going to be $200k each. Do you want to pay monthly or lump sum?"
• "Now hold on a minute. That's a lot of money. Let's get another engineer first, maybe he'll tell us it's OK. My brother lives across town and they fixed their building for $2mm instead of $15mm. Who gets to decide what all gets fixed? I think XYZ is fine, why are we including that?"

Round and round it goes for YEARS probably. I can imagine everyone turning into a fucking master engineer all of a sudden when presented with a six figure bill.

[lemonlime 5503]

Wow.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/28/us/surfside-condo-owners-assessments-invs/index.html

Condo owners in the South Florida tower that collapsed last week were facing assessments for millions of dollars worth of repairs -- with payments set to begin a week after the building's deadly fall.
The Champlain Towers South condo association approved a $15 million assessment in April to complete repairs required under the county's 40-year recertification process, according to documents obtained by CNN. 

The documents show that more than two years had passed after association members received a report about "major structural damage" in the building before they started the assessment process to pay for necessary repairs. 
Owners would have to pay assessments ranging from $80,190 for one-bedroom units to $336,135 for the owner of the building's four-bedroom penthouse, a document sent to the building's residents said. The deadline to pay upfront or choose paying a monthly fee lasting 15 years was July 1.

An itemized list of planned repairs included new pavers, planter landscape and waterproofing -- addressing some of the issues noted in a 2018 engineer's report, which warned how leaking water was leading to deteriorating concrete. The most costly project listed was "facade, balcony and railing repairs," for $3.4 million. 
The 2018 report, prepared for the condo association, had previously estimated that necessary repairs to the Surfside, Fla. building would cost about $9.1 million. It's unclear whether the issues identified by Frank Morabito, the structural engineer who produced the report, contributed to the disaster. 
The big assessment bill came as an unwelcome surprise to some owners of the building's 136 units. 

"We struggled with it and everything," said Isabel Aguero, who owns an 11th-floor condo in the part of the building that stayed standing. She said she thought most of the line items appeared to be more for aesthetic improvements instead of structural fixes to the building -- such as $722,000 for "hallway and public area renovations." 
Aguero and her husband decided to go with the monthly payment, and sent in the paperwork on June 23 so the association would start adding $593 to their homeowner fees, they said. Early the next morning, the building collapsed. 
The couple bought their condo two years ago with plans to retire there. But they said they hadn't spent much time in it, as their renovations and furniture deliveries were delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

He said that there had been work on the building's roof since earlier this year "that would wake us up every morning with drilling." But larger structural construction had not yet begun, according to a statement from the engineering firm that conducted the 2018 report.
Albert said he was distressed reading the warnings in the 2018 report, which he never saw until after the building fell. 
"I was pretty angry at that point, angry that innocent lives had to be lost," he said.
Since the collapse, the condo association has received scrutiny for the years-long delay between the alarming 2018 report and the building's overhaul. Its representatives have noted that they were delayed by the pandemic and had to take the time to issue competitive bids for the work.
"We have board members who are living here, had their families living here, and are among the missing, so if they knew there was a hazardous issue, they certainly would have taken care of it," Donna DiMaggio Berger, an attorney for the Champlain Towers condo association, told CNN on Friday. 
One official from the town of Surfside had previously assured the association that their building was "in very good shape" in November 2018, meeting minutes obtained by CNN show -- even though he had received the report about structural damage two days earlier.

 

Wouldn’t the condo association carry insurance to cover major structural damage though? Seems odd to have a special assessment for foundation type stuff.

[Ellellelle 308]

I am really curious about the likelihood this happens to similar buildings in the area. Is that something people need to be concerned about?

[Upgrayedd 5810]

11 minutes ago, lemonlime said:

 

Wouldn’t the condo association carry insurance to cover major structural damage though? Seems odd to have a special assessment for foundation type stuff.

Doubt it was foundation failure.  Looks more like the podium deck/diaphragm gave way.  Those pics from below the pool are terrible 

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

50 minutes ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

My gut feeling is still that a drunk asshole drove into the parking garage and hit a corroded column.

Highly highly doubtful, but crazier things have happened.  Those columns are pretty stout even if weakened, and you'd have to be wanting to take it out with the speed you'd need, that and the Mac truck you'd be driving.

Edited June 29, 2021 by Onboard 2.0

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

4 minutes ago, Upgrayedd said:

Doubt it was foundation failure.  Looks more like the podium deck/diaphragm gave way.  Those pics from below the pool are terrible 

The deck was acting as a diaphragm supporting the columns ?  Keeping them from deflecting out of plumb ?  Maybe in a wind load condition, but that's not what was going on was it ?

My very speculative guess is corroded rebar in concrete beams or a sink hole. Lots of water (salt water I'm guessing) was in parts of the basement.