they saying? reporter: yeah, fred, the new demolition plan is a departure about what we heard yesterday. the new plan, try to get the remaining part to come down before the storm possibly hits this area so with the storm possibly coming through here late monday, they would like the building to come down before then, because they don t want this storm to take it down for them and possibly go in the wrong direction so that is the new strategy and the governor did speak today saying once there is a green light this process can happen quickly within 36 hours. again, this is different from what was told to us yesterday and the county mayor said that is because a new demolition expert was brought to them who knew how to do this very quickly. and what they would do is create a tarp, put a tarp over the area that s already been searched so that when the demolition happens, they can differentiate between the debris that s already been searched and the debris that hasn t been searched
still a lot of time to go with the system. we ll be track going for sure. nonetheless tropical storms can certainly pack a powerful punch. gene norman. thank you so much. and this reminder for the latest on the storm s track, check out cnn.com/weather. officials gave the update in surfside, florida. teams pulled two more bodies from the rubble overnight, bringing the number of confirmed deaths to 24. 124 people still unaccounted for. the mayor of miami-dade county says she has issued an emergency order to demolish what s left of the champlain tower south because of this safety risk of the remaining structure. let s go right to cnn s natasha chen on the ground in surfside. so, natasha, sounds like a race against time. can a controlled implosion be pulled together that fast before monday. well, fred, the storm if it comes this way it s unclear
holiday weekend. we begin this hour with a major storm potentially threatening search and rescue efforts underway in surfside, florida, the site of the devastating building collapse. meanwhile, officials say they are preparing to demolish what reremains of the champlain tower south condominium building and could do so before the storm hits. more on that in a moment. but first tropical storm elsa making its way to the florida coast right now. let s get to cnn meteorologist jean norman. how long do search teams have before the storm becomes a real problem? fred, good to be with you. it looks like probably monday morning is the time we ll start being concerned in south florida. you have a day and a half to go. that s where i want to start. when will the tropical storm force winds from the system arrive in south florida? well this graphic shows you the
and then god give me the price of my life. because i did so many good things. how lucky do you feel today? i know i m lucky. very lucky to be here with my family. reporter: that night alfredo and esther lost everything they owned but they escaped with their lives and a friendship that is sure to endure. you make me very happy. reporter: it really was a team effort getting esther out of that building safely. another man did help, albert. of course, she would like him. he pulled as alfredo pushed and esther also believes that her parents and her husband also had a hand in her getting out of there alive. she believes that they gave those men the strength to rescue her and in speaking with alfredo, he does suffer from a bit of survivor s guilt. he got very emotional talking
the support but it s tough and it s really been difficult to see. reporter: a lot of high emotions all around the community including anxiety from people in other buildings worried about potential damage and what could happen to their buildings of similar age. now, right next to the one that collapsed, champlain towers east, our colleague brian todd obtained a memo from a source close to that building saying that there s spalling concrete on one pillar that happened after the tower collapsed. we have images to so you what that looks like so currently working on shoring that up and placed 13 sensors around the building to monitor any movement. that s according to that memo. seven structural engineers apparently have been through that building to ensure that it is safe for people in there but doing everything they can to ensure that safety, shore up that damage that s being seen there, fred. painstaking.