Thank goodness Iliana Monteagudo listened to her intuition on the night her building collapsed. She believes her inner voice told her to run, and that is why she’s alive today…
Monteagudo told the New York Post that she paid $600,000 for a sixth-floor two-bedroom condo this past December in the Champlain Towers in Surfside, Flordia. She learned about structural issues only after she purchased the condo:
“They never told us anything. Then they suddenly make us make an extra $1,000 special assessment for all these repairs they need to do. We are supposed to start paying in July.”
Three years ago, an engineer found “major structural damage” and “abundant” cracking of columns and beams at the Champlain Towers South.
There are numerous photos within the report showing the deterioration of the building. One photo below:
According to the Miami Herald, a report, “Structural Field Survey Report,” was produced for the condo association in October 2018 by engineer Frank Morabito of Morabito Consultants. Morabito wrote that the “main issue” at Champlain Towers was that the pool deck and outdoor planters “laid on a flat structure,” preventing water from draining. The lack of waterproofing was “a systemic issue” that traced back to a flaw “in the development of the original contract documents” 40 years ago, the report said.
“Failure to replace waterproofing in the near future will cause the extent of the concrete deterioration to expand exponentially.”
The report clearly states that the repairs needed to be done soon and that they would be expensive…
Monteagudo continued to tell about her harrowing escape and how she woke up to strange noises and went to close her balcony door:
“I ran and tried to close it but I couldn’t, I imagine because it was unlevel already because of all the movement. I heard a crack, and when I looked, I saw a crack traveling in the wall two fingers thick. Something told me you need to run.”
Monteagudo described her escape after her inner voice told her to run:
“Two more minutes, no, no. Not even one. There was no more time. When I was running down the stairs, I went from six to five and then four, I heard a tremendous noise. It was infernal. The building was falling.”
” I don’t know how I managed to escape.”
As rescue crews search for 159 missing people in the collapsed building, more questions are asked about a companion building called Champlain Towers North. The people who live in that building should demand a structural analysis.
