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The Future of Florida’s Condos
As the community of Surfside rallies around victims of the Champlain Towers collapse, what does the future hold for other such structures?
A wall of photos of the victims in the recent Champlain Towers condo collapse serves for now as a memorial in the city of Surfside, Florida.
It has been a period of heart-wrenching grief over the past two weeks as the rescue operation has ground on, eventually resolving into a grim but determined recovery operation. Meanwhile, the Surfside Wall of Hope and Memorial sits one-block to the west of the collapse site. Throughout the crisis, it has served as a vigil and source of community support for those still awaiting information about lost loved ones.
Out of this community have come harrowing stories of survival, and tales of those who missed death by luck or by chance. There have been stories of heartbreaking loss and grief. There has also been an outpouring of community support as faith leaders, business owners, government officials, and volunteers of every description have banded together to help Surfside through the disaster.
“It was a distinctly Jewish tragedy- one local rabbi estimated that more than 50 Jewish people are still among the missing- but also a distinctly Jewish response,” reflected Jewish Journalist Louis Keene for the Forward on July 2. Recounting the…