The death toll in the Florida building collapse climbed to 28 on Monday, as officials warned foul weather from Tropical Storm Elsa was beginning to hamper search efforts.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said 117 people still remain unaccounted for at the site.
“The bad weather, unfortunately, has caused some temporary pauses of the work, specifically lightning, which, as you know, is not safe for conducting the search effort,” Cava said. “It does force us to stop to protect the safety of our first responders.”
The death toll rose when another body was recovered Monday afternoon. Three other bodies had found overnight.
Cava said rescue teams will continue to work as they are able and have now removed 4.8 million pounds of concrete.
The new details came on the 12th day of search-and-rescue efforts at the site of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, which collapsed early June 24 and buried nearly 150 people under tons of concrete.
Engineers on Sunday brought down the remaining portion of the building in a controlled detonation, briefly halting the search but opening up new areas of the pile for first responders, officials said Monday.
Cava said the demolition of the structurally unstable final section of the building was necessary for work to continue in earnest. The approaching storm threatened to topple the structure either way, officials said.
Elsa is expected to make landfall along Florida’s west coast by Tuesday or Wednesday, bringing dangerous tropical-force winds and rain to Surfside, which neighbors Miami Beach.
