As the death toll rises, President Joe Biden will go to South Florida on Thursday to view the scene of the condo building collapse and meet with victims’ families.
According to the White House, the president will accompany first lady Jill Biden at the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, located around three miles north of Miami Beach.
Biden will be given a “command briefing” by Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, local leaders, and first responders after they arrive.
“In the afternoon, the president and first lady will visit with families who have been forced to endure this horrible tragedy to offer them comfort as search and rescue efforts continue,” the White House said.
The Bidens will arrive in South Florida around 9:30 a.m. EDT and will meet with families shortly after noon.
Biden will next make a public statement about 3:50 p.m., roughly 90 minutes before he and the first lady depart for Washington, D.C.
The president’s visit comes a week after the condo tower partially fell, and rescue workers are still sifting through debris in search of more victims or possible survivors.
Officials said on Wednesday that the death toll had risen to 18. Approximately 145 persons have gone missing.
The cause of the partial condo building collapse is currently being investigated by officials.
The building, which was completed in 1981, was scheduled for 40-year recertification this year, and there have been structural issues in recent years.
In April, the president of the condo building informed residents about a 2018 engineering assessment on the structure, which warned of “abundant cracking” and crumbling in the subterranean parking garage, as well as “severe structural deterioration to the concrete structural slab.”
According to USA Today, “when you can physically see the concrete [breaking], that means the rebar holding it together is rusting and decaying beneath the surface,” Jean Wodnicki wrote to renters in her letter.
