Florida tragedy underscores threat of building vulnerabilities
Ali Sahabi, GEC, MRED
President @ Optimum Group LLC | Innovative Real Estate Development Leader
Surfside, Florida. Not long ago, this beachfront community was known best for its eclectic restaurants, five-star Bal Harbour shopping, upscale hotels, and multi-story condominium buildings lining the sun-kissed sands of the Atlantic coast just north of Miami.
But on June 24, a wing of the 12-story Champlain Towers imploded – bringing the horror of death, injury, and destruction not just to the community, but the world.
It will take some time to determine the exact cause of the collapse. Some attribute it to construction or engineering defects, the erosion of steel caused by the salty ocean spray, or 40 years of water seepage from hurricanes and rain. An engineer found evidence of structural damage beneath the pool deck and “concrete deterioration” in the underground parking garage in a 2018 inspection report.
Scientists in the region have long noted the risk of building on the shifting sands of a barrier island like Miami Beach, especially with rising sea levels.
Footage from a nearby surveillance camera showed the collapse in horrifying detail: First, the wing section attached to the main building fell as if pulverized, leaving the exterior of the wing standing for a few seconds before it, too, tumbled into the ghastly gape below.
“It looks like a bomb went off, but we’re pretty sure a bomb didn’t go off,” Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told NBC News the day of the collapse. “There’s no reason for this building to go down like that unless someone literally pulls out the supports from underneath, or they get washed out, or there’s a sinkhole or something like that – because it just went down.”
Architect Kobi Karp said he’s seen things like this happen before, “ but never in the United States of America. “It’s a 40-year-old building and we have buildings in Miami from the 1920s,” he said. “It’s a sad, sad scenario that we may find out could have been prevented.”[
The Miami Herald underscored the need for reform: “The horror we’re experiencing today should serve as an urgent alert that older Florida structures need auditing and stricter oversight by the government.”
Other cities now on alert
The tragedy has rattled the nerves of communities throughout the nation, with many calling for more stringent government oversight to address the vulnerabilities of older buildings suffering from the natural conditions of various regions from coast to coast.
City officials in Long Beach face some of the same issues as those in Surfside or any beachfront community. There, hundreds of older high-rise buildings salute the Pacific, basking in the same solar-splashed salt-spray some in Florida think could have contributed to the disaster.
“It’s alarming to me,” Long Beach Building Superintendent David Khorram told members of the media. “I use that term because you want to make sure that that doesn’t happen to your community.” He said city building inspectors will be trained on whatever caused the collapse, so they will know what to look for locally.
Marc Joseph, Boston’s deputy building commissioner, said apartment residents should be “alert, vigilant, but not panicked.”
Meanwhile, hundreds have been displaced – by order or at their own discretion – as officials inspect the damage of the building and others flee similar structures in fear of the same thing happening to them.
Disaster brings about change
Building codes are continually updated in response to disaster. Hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes and other natural phenomenon teach us with their devastation as they carve swaths of destruction in their paths. Each disaster brings a new understanding of the way buildings respond to natural forces.
The Long Beach earthquake of 1933 kicked off this trend with three important laws:
The Sylmar Quake of 1971 resulted in a new flood of legislation, including:
The Sylmar quake also sparked then-Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1972 to establish the Governor’s Earthquake Council to create an executive branch of government on earthquake hazard reduction problems.
In 1985, a new wave of legislation was sparked by the aftermath of Mexico City’s devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake, which killed 5,000 people. News of the devastation prompted enactment of several new pieces of legislation designed to make the nation’s cities safer during the 1985-1986 session:
The Loma Prieta quake of 1989 resulted in the passage of 27 earthquake laws, including the development of a National Disaster Response Plan by the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program.
The Northridge earthquake of 1994 also prompted legislative changes. Due to the large amount lost by insurance companies, most insurance companies either stopped offering or severely restricted earthquake insurance in California. In response, the California Legislature created the?California Earthquake Authority?(CEA), which is a publicly managed but privately funded organization that offers some coverage for homeowners.?A substantial effort was also made to reinforce freeway bridges against seismic damage, and a law requiring water heaters to be properly strapped was passed in 1995.
Older structures remain a threat
Most building safety laws and policies affect new construction, with higher standards established in improved building codes. Policies for existing buildings are much more difficult to implement.
“Once a building is occupied, the structural safety inspection requirements mostly end,” the Poynter Institute wrote recently in response to the Florida tragedy.
In California, where earthquakes are commonplace, several cities and counties have learned from the past and adopted retrofit laws requiring that older, vulnerable structures be fortified to withstand an earthquake.
That includes: Alameda, Berkeley, Beverly Hills, Burbank, Fremont, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, Oakland, Pasadena, Richmond, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Torrance, West Hollywood, Santa Clara County.
When Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti signed L.A.’s ordinance into law in 2015, he said he did it not only for life and safety issues, but to protect the city’s ability to function after the long-anticipated monster earthquake strikes. Public response to the new law has been much better than expected, particularly among building owners, who have recognized that it makes good business sense to retrofit their properties.
Recently, he spoke on these and other improvements on “The Resilience Advantage,” an important webinar series featuring interviews and discussions with leading experts in structural engineering, seismology, architecture, business, construction, development, financing, government, law, and risk management.
“In Los Angeles, we understand that the decisions we make today are going to shape the lives of our children and our grandchildren,” Garcetti said.
That includes not only making communities safer, but stronger – both socially and economically.
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“During the last year as we’ve faced the challenges of the pandemic, we’ve learned much about our communities, our economies, and our institutions,” said Maria Salinas, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. “Angelenos have always known the danger of events, from wildfires to earthquakes and everything in between. And as we emerge from the pandemic, the need for greater resiliency is evident.”
Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian, a longtime proponent of earthquake safety, said he supports state action to give cities the tools to encourage building owners to address structural flaws with improvements, such as retrofits.
“What happened in ’94, we saw the displacement that it caused,” he said of the Northridge earthquake. “We saw the impacts. We saw the devastation of the cost, and that was at a time when the buildings that were around at that time were not as old as they are now.”
The current housing crisis makes the situation even worse, he said.
“What’s very scary is that at a time like this, with the housing crunch that we have, we have many vulnerable individuals living in the most vulnerable buildings that will be the first to be impacted by earthquakes,” he said. “… I think it’s critical that the state takes appropriate steps to further incentivize local jurisdictions to protect our investments, our loved ones, and the ability to conduct business the way we have been – and not be hampered by a major seismic event.”
Protecting ecosystem and economy
Nothing in a community exists without having some impact on something or someone else. We are all dependent on each other, for shelter, food, clothing, services. Our ability to make a living hinges on the livelihood of others.
The average age of a commercial building is about 50 years, and mixed-use development is about 75 years old on average, according to SMR Research Corporation. These structures, constructed in the 1940s to 1970s, are vulnerable to damage in a major earthquake.
And, there are literally thousands of them in every major city in the U.S. These buildings constitute much more than a roof, walls, windows, and doors. Each one represents hundreds, if not thousands of lives and livelihoods: tenants, employees, customers, students, health care workers and patients, and the list goes on.
We all have a responsibility to protect not only ourselves and our own interests – but the well-being of our communities.
As Florida goes through the grief and recovery of this latest Champlain Towers disaster, let’s hope Californians think back on their own disasters of the past and take action to avoid similar calamities in the future.
USC researchers estimate the eight-county region of Southern California could suffer property damage of $113 billion in a major earthquake – with additional business-related impacts of $68 billion or more.
Recent estimates have put damages caused by a magnitude-7 earthquake on the Puente Hills fault at more than $252 billion, with thousands killed and hundreds of thousands displaced.
?Is your community prepared?
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Ali Sahabi, a licensed General Engineering Contractor (GEC), is an expert in seismic resilience and sustainability. He is Co-Founder of Optimum Seismic, Inc., which has completed some 3,500 seismic retrofitting and adaptive reuse projects for multifamily residential, commercial, and industrial buildings throughout California.?Contact Optimum Seismic today to arrange for an assessment of your building by calling (323)605-0000 or visiting optimumseismic.com
Fox Business, “Miami building collapse: Possible causes explained by local expert,” https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/miami-building-collapse-possible-causes
Newsweek, “Did Champlain tower pool deck flaw play role in deadly Florida collapse?” https://www.newsweek.com/did-champlain-tower-pool-deck-flaw-play-role-deadly-florida-collapse-1604463
NBC News, “Cause of Miami condo collapse unclear, but experts say barrier islands present risks,” https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cause-miami-condo-collapse-unclear-experts-say-barrier-islands-present-n1272316
NBC News, “Cause of Miami condo collapse unclear, but experts say barrier islands present risks,” https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cause-miami-condo-collapse-unclear-experts-say-barrier-islands-present-n1272316
Miami Herald, “’The building was in OK shape.’ It still collapsed,” Building collapse: What to know about Champlain Towers | Miami Herald
Miami herald, “Condo collapse is an urgent alert that old structures need auditing,” https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/fabiola-santiago/article252306058.html
CBS News, “Goldstein investigates Long Beach high-rise safety,” https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2021/06/24/goldstein-investigates-long-beach-high-rise-safety/
NBC Boston, “Building official says to be vigilant but not panicked,” https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/after-fla-collapse-boston-building-official-says-to-be-vigilant-but-not-panicked/2414295/
Poynter Institute, “The Florida condo collapse will have lasting implications for older buildings,” https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2021/the-florida-condo-collapse-will-have-lasting-implications-for-older-buildings/
The Resilience Advantage, Episode 6, https://www.optimumseismic.com/the-resilience-advantage/
SMR Research Corporation, https://www.commbuildings.com/ResearchComm.html
Los Angeles Daily News, “Think a pandemic hurt the economy? Experts warn the Big One would cost billions.” https://www.dailynews.com/2020/10/16/think-a-pandemic-hurt-the-economy-experts-warn-the-big-one-would-cost-billions/
Sage Journals, “Loss Estimates for a Puente Hills blind-thrust earthquake in Los Angeles, California,” https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1193/1.1898332
Professor of Structural Engineering; expertise in seismic design and evaluation of concrete, steel and composite systems.
3 年This is a fantastic summary of the history of changes resulting from natural disasters. This is an unimaginable tragedy. We must learn from it. We need time to do that. I wish the media would stop asking for speculating and I wish engineers would stop speculating. We all know this is a long process and given the extent of this tragedy, we owe it to everyone to do our due diligence.
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