i couldn t see anything outside. i got my cell phone and called my friend and neighbor dick. there was no answer. i called my brother fred, the call went to his voice mail. i ran through my apartment and out to the hallway, i looked left to the north end of the building, a concrete column had pierced the hallway from floor to ceiling, and i looked at the elevators and the shafts were exposed and the doors were gone. i knocked on several neighbors doors, no answer. i run to the exit, open the doors that lead to the outside stairwell and saw the devastation. the beach side of champlain had collapsed, pancake and i screamed in horror. a lady from the rubble heard my voice. she said, please help me. please help me. don t leave me here. i couldn t see her. there were no lights. i was still in my pajamas and i ran inside and got dressed. someone pounded on my door and i opened. my maybe from 908 was standing there with her 10-year-old son
earlier there were damage of the pool taken by the pool contractor. according to that paper, he said this was standing water all over the parking garage, and severely corroded rebar under the pool. that s his report and we have not confirmed it. bottom line, an attorney for the champlain towers said there could be several factors, construction, drilling, sub surface problems. how do we get to the bottom of this. i am very curious about what the intense conversations might be among those of you who are architects in that area and understand the specifics of building where this bidding was built? yeah, those photos are regretfully very helpful to understand what is going on
deck. the pool water drained for this repair. there are columns and concrete floors cracking, rusted rebar, and cables that support the concrete. inspector robert kondi looks at a support column that needs repair. when you look at this now, given what happened at champlain, how big of a concern is this? a big concern. why? it could fail, and people could die. reporter: these inspectors emphasize this is normal wear and tear for buildings like this, and it doesn t mean the building is in imminent danger of collapse, still, the work will have to be done to prevent a repeat of the surfside collapse. a contractor points to something he s concerned about. the chlorine from the pool has deteriorated the reinforcing and the post extension cable in these areas, so that s why we have a massive repair underneath this pool. reporter: and sunny isles beach vice mayor points out it s the owners of each unit that have to pay for the repairs.
parking garage right by the pool deck. the water drained for this repair. there are columns and concrete floor cracking, rusted cables supporting the concrete. they looked at a column that supports the repair. when you look at what happened given champlain, how concerned are you? very concerned. reporter: why? because it could fail and people could die. reporter: these inspectors emphasize this is normal wear and tear for buildings like this and it doesn t mean the building is in imminent danger of collapse. the work will have to be done to prevent a repeat of the surfside collapse. something the contractor is worried about. the flooring from the pool has deteriorated. and the cable in these areas. that s why we have a massive repair underneath this pool. reporter: and sunny isles beach mayor points out it s the owners of each unit who have to pay for the repairs. these buildings are up
to make sure that maintenance and repairs are done in a timely fashion. alisyn. yeah. i mean it sounds like now they re moving into overdrive on all of these things. of course, that s a blessing, but if only it could have happened sooner. rosa, thank you very much. so the champlain towers were built during the 80s condo boom in miami. there are many other buildings in the area that are also in the 40-year recertification process or about to begin that. so as rosa was mentioning, there s a rush up and down the coast of south florida to inspect those buildings before something like this ever happens again. the mayor of miami-dade county says they have already uncovered some serious issues. cnn s brian todd tagged along with one of the group of inspectors on monday. he joins us live from surfside, florida. brian, what have you seen? reporter: alisyn, we are seeing really kind of a desperate scramble by municipalities and towns all around here, all around surfside, north and south,