SURFSIDE, Fla. – The tragic collapse of Champlain Tower South in Surfside has brought the structural integrity of its sister towers, Chaplain Towers North and East, into extreme focus, as residents, condo associations, and more grow extremely concerned for their safety.
Due to this concern, Mayor of Surfside Charles Burkett met with the condo associations for Chaplain Tower East and Champlain Tower North over the weekend.
The meeting comes as inspectors were seen out at the sites Sunday.
“If you ask me if I would want to spend the night in that building, I would not be willing to do that,” Burkett said.
At the meeting, they discussed how building owners are hiring an engineering firm to do a complete workup on both towers.
“Nothing really significant jumped out, but that is just a cursory review,” Burkett said. “And on Tuesday, the owners of that building are bringing in an engineering firm to do a top-to-bottom, forensic study on that, and they are going to use the X-rays and ground-penetrating radar. I think we are going to get some good answers.”
The north tower was built in 1981, which is the same year the south tower was built. However, the east tower was a little over a decade later in 1994.
All the Champlain Towers are in the same vicinity and built by the same developer.
Residents who currently reside in both Champlain Tower North and Champlain Tower East have been provided temporary housing by FEMA if they choose to evacuate.
However, so far, it has not been deemed necessary to evacuate.