Authorities in Miami Beach, Florida, ordered the immediate eviction of an apartment complex located on the same street where the Champlain Towers building collapsed just over a year ago, killing 98 people.
In South Florida, public administrations have tightened their building inspection policies with the aim that something like this does not happen again. Finding that the construction had serious structural damage, they ordered the immediate evacuation of the Port Royale building, located about 2 kilometers (1.3 miles) from the Champlain Towers.
“Where are we going to go now?”
Several local media that reported the situation showed how the neighbors came, loaded with suitcases, to collect their belongings, visibly affected by the situation.
“I’ve been in this building for 20 years,” said a man in statements to WPLG collected by the agency the Associated Press while another neighbor said she felt “a lot of anguish” because of the effort she had made for many years to buy the building, and now she fears that everything will be in vain if they finally decide to demolish the building.
Another neighbor gave more details about the damage that the Port Royale presented, confirming that several cracks had been found in the base column of the building, located in the lower part of the building. “There are cracks everywhere,” he said.
stricter measures
Now many of those neighbors have to find a place to live. This is not the first time something like this has happened in Miami, especially since stricter measures were put in place after the fateful Champlain Towers case.
“There are many who think it was avoidable if the repairs to the building had been done on time. That is why several laws were changed in response to this incident,” said Miami Mayor Francis Suárez, who, seeing what happened in the neighboring city of Surfside, also tightened control measures for structures.
Ashley Dean lost her sister Cassie, 40, who was one of the first to realize the structure was failing. She stepped out onto the balcony and seconds later, the Champlain Towers collapsed. The woman died trapped in the ruins and her sister, who does not want anyone to forget this tragedy, still has many doubts about what happened. She hopes these deaths will serve to tighten building regulations.
“This tragedy and the loss of these 98 wonderful people has definitely had an impact on how buildings and constructions have to be reviewed,” the woman said in statements to VOA.
It is not the first eviction in the area
In the most touristic area of Miami Beach, in the heart of South Beach, several Latin American families received another similar notification. They had 48 hours to vacate their apartments due to apparent problems with the building’s structure.
Adalinda Cruz, a Honduran who had been living in that place for almost two decades, assured that she feared being homeless and on the street because she could not find an affordable rent according to her income.
“We have been here for 15 years and the owner didn’t mind throwing us out. And we have nowhere to go. They left us like this, on the street, it’s not fair,” the woman said in statements to the voice of america.
Like her, the rest of the tenants of the eight apartments, all Latinos, also had to leave their homes. Some, however, denounced that the owner had not bothered to take care of the building and that now the authorities determined that the place was uninhabitable. Roxanna Bustillo, another of the affected neighbors, could not hold back her tears. She doesn’t know where to go either, but in her case she has three children in her care, and the situation is even more complicated for her.
Miami, among the most expensive cities in the country
The problem is not only in the eviction, but in the few possibilities that these people have to find an affordable space. Miami is one of the most expensive cities to rent in the entire United States. It has come to be placed ahead of New York or San Francisco, according to some real estate studies. And it is that in less than a year, the price for a one-bedroom apartment has increased almost 40 percent on average.
Hispanics, who often work in informal economies, are the most affected. With lower and more unstable salaries, living in big cities is becoming more and more difficult.
“We were looking for apartments and to enter they asked us between 5,000 and 7,000 dollars. And we also need credit, they need proof of everything. They ask for a lot and it’s a whole process,” said Kerry Vélez, another affected Miami Beach resident.
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