The site of the deadly Surfside condo collapse has been almost completely cleared, less than a month after the disaster which killed at least 97 people.
Photos from the site shared Tuesday show how the lot has changed in the 27 days since the deadly disaster on June 24.
The towering pile of concrete rubble, mangled rebar and debris has now been removed, with just a few walls and support beams remaining jutting from the ground.
More than 26 million pounds of debris have been removed, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine-Cava reported, as the recovery effort continues at a debris collection area offsite, and medical examiners continue their work sifting through the rubble.
The pictures came on the same day that a judge said that victims and their families will get a minimum total of $150million compensation.
Anastasia Gromova, 24, and Linda March were named on Wednesday night as the latest identified victims of the tragedy. Gromova had just been accepted to a program teaching English to students in Japan and was visiting friends.
The death toll as of Wednesday stands at 97, while one additional person remains missing.
A county spokesman said: 'What’s happening now is that the first responders are conducting additional searches of the debris at the collection site. They’re continuing to do everything that they can to be as thorough as possible in the search for any additional remains to bring closure to families.
Rubble from the site that is considered key evidence is being stored in a Miami-area warehouse, with the rest in nearby vacant lots, said the receiver, attorney Michael Goldberg. All of that will be preserved as possible evidence for the lawsuits and for other experts to review, he said.
Photos released Tuesday of the site of the deadly condo collapse in Surfside, Florida showed it largely cleared of debris nearly four weeks on from the disaster. A judge ruled Wednesday that victims of the collapse and their families were eligible for at least $150million initially
Twenty-six million pounds of rubble was moved offsite where the recovery effort continues to identify the remains of the two victims still unaccounted for
With $150million initially set aside for families who suffered losses in the collapse, much of the rubble being held at a holding site will serve as evidence for the numerous lawsuits filed related to the collapse
BEFORE: Rescue and recovery workers had spent nearly four weeks combing through and removing the rubble of the building. It is pictured on June 24 the day of its collapse
Anastasia Gromova, 24, was confirmed as the latest named victim on Wednesday. She had just been accepted to a program teaching English to students in Japan and was visiting friends
'It may take years for their report to become public,' Goldberg said of the NIST probe.
As of Sunday, Miami-Dade County reported that the remaining work to be completed on the site was removing seawater from the lower levels of the building. By Tuesday, it appeared that work had been completed.
'What's happening now is that the first responders are conducting additional searches of the debris at the collection site,' a county spokesperson told the Miami Herald. 'They're continuing to do everything that they can to be as thorough as possible in the search for any additional remains to bring closure to families.
Gromova's remains were recovered from the site on Sunday and her identity revealed by police on Wednesday.
Her family said she loved to travel, with her father Sergiy Gromov saying 'she always wanted to do as much as possible with her life.'
Gromova's parents and sister, who live in Canada and immediately flew to Florida after the collapse, spoke of their agony as they have watched other victims' relatives, alongside whom they have waited for weeks, return home after their loved one was identified.
Gromova was on vacation at the tower with 23-year-old Michelle Pazos at her father Miguel's apartment. Michelle's body was found 11 days ago while the body of father Miguel Pazos, 55, was found July 8.
Attorney Linda March, 58, was also confirmed to be among the dead on Wednesday night. Her body was recovered on July 5th. She had been renting one of the lower penthouses on the 12th floor of the tower after recently moving to Miami from New York after recovering from COVID-19.
Bunk beds and a desk chair exposed in the side of the building after it partially collapsed were said to belong to the apartment she was staying in.
New Yorker Estelle Hedaya, who was a friend of March and lived on the sixth floor, is the last of those still reported missing.
Linda March (right) was confirmed to be among the victims on Wednesday night. Estelle Hedaya (left) remains missing. They were close friends with each other. Hedaya lived on the sixth floor and March on the top floor
With the removal of the debris local officials hoped life around the fallen building might soon return to normal.
'I think that in the very near future, we will be able to get Collins Avenue partially open for traffic,' Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told the Herald. 'We're trying to semi-normalize life in Surfside, however, we're not doing anything that would jeopardize the investigation into the site. We're trying to balance those two requirements.'
On Wednesday, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman said victims and their families will get a minimum total of $150million compensation, a judge said Wednesday.
That sum includes insurance on the Champlain Towers South building and the expected proceeds from the sale of the Surfside property where the structure once stood, Judge Hanzman said at a hearing.
With the remains of the 12 story building removed, local officials said they hoped for a return to normal
An aerial view of the site on July 1 shows the rescue operation at the Champlain Tower
'The court's concern has always been the victims here,' the judge said, adding that the group includes visitors and renters, not just condo owners. 'Their rights will be protected.'
The $150 million does not count any proceeds from the more than a dozen lawsuits already filed since the June 24 collapse. Those lawsuits are being consolidated into a single class action that would cover all victims and family members if they choose, the judge said.
'I have no doubt, no stone will be left unturned,' Hanzman said of the lawsuits.
A receiver appointed by Hanzman to handle the Champlain Towers board's finances said the site has been completely cleared of debris under the watchful eye of investigators from the National Institute of Standards and Technology – the agency leading a federal probe into the collapse.
Champlain Towers South tenants Yadira Santo, from left to right, Paolo Longobardi and Oren Cytrynbaum listened during Wednesday's hearing in which Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman ruled that they and the families of victims who did not survive the collapse would be eligible for a minimum of $150million in compensation for the tragedy
Workers continued to look for survivors at the site on July 5, a day after the remaining portion of the structure was demolished to aid in their search effort
Workers walked past the site on July 6, a little more than a week into the rescue and recovery effort
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