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<\/p>\nA “tragedy without precedent.”<\/p>\n
For four decades, the Champlain Tower South condominium lined the\u00a0Surfside, Florida, skyline.\u00a0Then, on Thursday, it was gone. Ten people have been confirmed dead. More than 150 lives remain unaccounted for. Families are growing increasingly anguished at the slow pace of recovery. Loved ones are losing hope.<\/p>\n
A cause has yet to be determined for the collapse of the\u00a012-story condominium.\u00a0But here’s what we do know:\u00a0The building,\u00a0according to a 2020 study,\u00a0has been sinking at an alarming rate since the 1990s. In addition, an\u00a0October 2018 inspection report found “abundant” cracking and spalling of the columns, beams and walls in the garage under the tower that collapsed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Upon news of the collapse, USA TODAY immediately started to unravel what happened. Our graphics team detailed what the condo looked like before and after the collapse. Our photo editors compiled these heartbreaking images of the ongoing\u00a0rescue efforts.<\/p>\n
We also had journalists on the ground. “I have spent the last 24 hours speaking to at least 200 family members that are looking for their loved ones,” said\u00a0Romina Ruiz-Goiriena, who was one of only two reporters inside the family reunification site that first day.<\/p>\n
This is Your Week, a subscriber-only guide to our top content. Thank you for investing in USA TODAY. Your commitment to our journalism allows us to cover the biggest news each week.<\/p>\n
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More than 150 people remain unaccounted for after a condo tower in Surfside, Florida, partially collapsed last week. (Photo: Special to USA TODAY)<\/span><\/p>\n ‘We were racing against time’\u00a0| <\/strong>The balcony doors of the Aguero family’s 11th floor Surfside oceanfront condo unit began to rattle and shake. Albert Aguero peered out the window and saw a plume of what appeared to be gray smoke. It wasn’t until he stepped out on the balcony that he discovered it was something entirely different \u2013 tiny bits of concrete dust.\u00a0Champlain Towers South\u00a0was collapsing.<\/p>\n ‘Please don’t leave me’\u00a0|\u00a0<\/strong>Nicholas Balboa was walking his dog around midnight when he felt the ground shake.\u00a0The rumble was followed by a loud crash. Then, as\u00a0Balboa approached the piles of concrete and metal, he heard a scream.\u00a0“Can somebody see me?” a boy’s voice said.\u00a0Balboa climbed over rubble to reach the boy, later identified as\u00a0Jonah Handler.\u00a0\u201cHe was just saying, ‘Please don\u2019t leave me, please don\u2019t leave me.’\u00a0I told him: ‘We\u2019re not gonna go anywhere.\u00a0We\u2019re staying.'”\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘What will I tell my son?’\u00a0|<\/strong>\u00a0Six-year-old\u00a0John Paul Rodriguez keeps telling his dad to call his missing grandmother\u2019s cellphone.\u00a0Elena Blasser, 64,\u00a0is among the dozens of people still unaccounted for.\u00a0As the days\u00a0pass\u00a0with no news, a sense of dread has overcome Blasser’s son, Pablo Rodriguez.\u00a0John Paul\u00a0knows his grandmother and great-grandmother,\u00a0Elena Chavez, were in the building when it crumbled, and he seems to think they will be OK. But the likely loss gnaws\u00a0at Rodriguez.\u00a0\u201cWhat will I tell my son?\u201d Rodriguez, 40, said as tears rolled down his cheeks. \u201cSaturdays are abuela’s\u00a0days.\u201d<\/p>\n COVID-19 vaccines work incredibly well for the vast majority of people. But for the roughly 10 million Americans whose immune systems are compromised because of medication or disease, they may not be as well protected.\u00a0“This isn’t over for us,” said\u00a0Michele Nadeem-Baker,\u00a0who has chronic lymphocytic leukemia that’s out of remission. She got two shots of the Moderna vaccine in March and April, but is pretty sure she has no protection against COVID-19.\u00a0Researchers are not\u00a0yet sure exactly what an adequate immune response looks like\u00a0\u2013 or\u00a0what level of protection\u00a0is enough. And once they figure out who is protected, they need to figure out what to do for immunocompromised people.\u00a0Read the full story here<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n We’re less than one month out from the Tokyo Olympics. Join sports reporter Analis Bailey weekly on Twitter Spaces for conversations with our veteran reporters and visual journalists on everything you need to know about the trials, athletes and the Games.<\/p>\nMore condo collapse coverage<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Stories we can’t get enough of<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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For many, the pandemic is still far from over<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Coming soon<\/strong><\/h2>\n