Surfside building collapse update

Today, Miami-Dade County released the following update on the Surfside building collapse response and recovery:

Search and Recovery

As of today, July 16, 94 victims have been identified and 94 families have been notified. 241 people are accounted for; 97 missing persons reports were opened with the Miami-Dade Police Department.

At this step in the recovery process it has become increasingly difficult to identify victims, and we are relying heavily on the work of the medical examiner’s office and the scientific, technical process of identifying human remains. This work becomes more difficult with the passage of time although our teams are working as hard and as fast as they can.

Out of respect for the families who are still waiting and to ensure we are reporting the most accurate possible numbers, we will only be reporting the number of victims who have been identified.

Family Assistance and Resources

31 families were served today at the Family Assistance Center (FAC); 20 agencies were active at the center, and 251 unique families have received services through the FAC in total.

The Small Business Administration has now received 98 applications – 39 from homeowners and renters and 59 from businesses, including 38 for economy injury.

For survivors of the Champlain Towers South building collapse, FEMA assistance may include funds to rent temporary housing. FEMA’s initial rental assistance may cover up to two months of rental expenses, which may include a security deposit. The rental can be a house, apartment, hotel or recreational vehicle. The assistance may also be used to cover essential utilities such as electricity and water. The initial rental assistance is based on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Fair Market Rent for Miami-Dade County. To find out if you are eligible for initial rental assistance from FEMA, visit the Family Assistance Center open daily from 11:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., or call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362 (TTY 800-462-7585).

We continue to receive applications for unmet needs through the online portal created to support families, Surfside Assistance.

Investigation

The work of NIST (The National Institute of Standards and Technology) is focused on ensuring that information and evidence related to the partial collapse of Champlain Towers South is identified, collected and preserved, in support of NIST’s technical investigation into the likely cause of the collapse. Read today's update from NIST about their ongoing work on the site.