Florida evacuates residents of Crestview Towers

crestview towers North Miami Beach evacuated

Crestview Towers North Miami Beach, Florida evacuated

Crestview towers North Miami Beach, Florida evacuated
Crestview Towers North Miami Beach, Florida evacuated

Local officials in North Miami Beach Florida have ordered a second residential complex, Crestview Towers evacuated after deeming it unsafe.

All residents of the building were told to leave immediately after engineers found serious concrete and electrical problems, said Arthur Sorey, city manager.

The move was considered urgent due to the approach of Hurricane Isla, which is forecast to hit Florida as early as Monday.

The building’s owners had not yet begun a mandatory safety recertification process required 40 years after it was built, he said.

“It’s definitely not an easy decision,” Sorey said. “It’s just the right thing to do during these times. It’s uncertain what’s going to happen with the storm.”

The evacuation was ordered as the death toll from the collapsed 12-storey Champlain Towers South in nearby Surfside, jumped to 22.

Officials said 126 people listed as still missing are feared dead.

No survivors have been pulled alive from the ruins since the first few hours after the tower partially caved in on itself early on June 24.

The number of people on the missing list dropped by 17 from Thursday, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told reporters, saying that the totals were “fluid” and sometimes revised through work by investigators.

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