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Mentioned, wourking around the clock putting their own lives at risk hoping there are lives to save beneath the rubble. Here in Surf Side Hope is the only thing a lot of people have right now. 159 people still unaccounted for. At least four people are dead and being here on the scene you realize not just the scope of the collapse but also the factors that are going to complicate a rescue. The smoke thats still in the air from nearly incessant fires underneath this field of debris. Of course, the scale of the challenge that is facing these emergency teams. Right now theyre racing against the clock and yet having to move in a painstakingly slow fashion to sift through debris as, again, those frequent fires, bad weather, and smokey conditions complicate their work. Were all essentially Stuck Waiting for news, any sign that would keep hope alive and as we speak, there are teams standing by waiting to treat anyone that they may find on site. As we hope for answers, theres now a wall honoring the missing thats been set up not very far from where we are right now. Dozens of families sitting in uncertainty anticipating any news about their loved ones. Adding to their frustration, the mystery. We still really have no idea what brought most of this building down, but theres a new report out that could hold some very important clues. Experts caution that we may not know the reasons for months, and there are still many questions to answer about accountability. Could this have been prevented . The main focus now though is on finding survivors. And from families here to first responders, there is still hope. Youve got to have hope, and were doing everything that we can to bring your Family Member out alive. An emotional statement from miamidade fire and rescue. Joining us is Nick Valencia who is standing by at a site set up for families waiting for word on their loved ones. Also on scene is cnns rosa flores. Youve been here in surf side since the Rescue Efforts began and its now day three. At this point what information do we know about where the Rescue Effort stands . Has it become a Recovery Effort . Reporter it is definitely still a Rescue Effort, boris. The latest we heard from the fire chief last night they are expanding their search strategically. They are looking under the rubble. They have to shore up the building. Painstaking work and the fire crews are working in 15minute increments. Every single piece of rubble and concrete could have a catastrophic reaction. Theyre moving very slowly, very methodically for the safety of everyone involved. Theyre also working on top of the rubble, a method called delayering. They are peeling through some of those layers to try to find signs of life but there have been a lot of challenges. First of all, there is that fire. Fire crews say that they cant get to the fire. It is so deep rooted in this building that its very, very difficult. All they can do right now is put water on it, but that also complicates the search even more. That adds to the weight. There has been torrential rain and that adds weight to the situation, puts more Water Underneath in the Parking Garages where we know that some of these firefighters have been searching. By the way, in those areas where there is water, where there is other hazards like gas potentially, fumes, vehicles, cars, firefighters say that they cant be in there more than five minutes because it is so incredibly dangerous. Theres also been wind gusts out here. If you look at the pictures of this partially collapsed building youll understand why that is so dangerous. There are still pieces of concrete that are dangling. Pieces of the building that are dangling. Mangled metal. That complicates the situation so much for firefighters risking their lives. There are the resources coming in. We have seen local, federal, state resources. Fema is on site. Firefighters from mexico, israel have arrived as well. Some of the resources theyre using are cameras that they can put through the crevices, through holes to try to find signs of life. Theyre also using sonar, listening devices. The mayor of the city says so long as the men and women that are sifting through this rubble, boris, still have hope, she says there is hope. There is hope here in surf side to continue looking for life, to continue giving hope to those families who are waiting in that Reunification Center about word of their loved ones. Hope, rosa, even in the face of even really staggering complications. You mentioned the weather is a factor. Later this hour were going to get an update on what kind of Weather Conditions theyre going to shall facing. Lets talk about the families and the agonizing wait for answers. The Family Members are clinging to hope. Cnns Nick Valencia is near the family Reunification Center. Nick, youve had some very emotional conversations over the last day or so. Bring us up to speed on how the families are doing this morning. Reporter good morning, boris. Its very quiet out here. People are actually sleeping there overnight after their entire building collapsing. There is a heaviness in the air. People are cling to go this idea there could be a miracle and not letting go of the belief that their loved ones are still alive, if only trapped under the debris. The heaviness comes in waves, especially with the passing of every hour. If hope is the last thing thats lost, theres still plenty of it here. Outside the surf Side Community center, among those Still Holding out for answers about their unaccounted loved ones is abigail perrera. Do you still have hope . Pereira says her friends had arrived at the surf side high rise to stay at the apartment of a friend. They had plans to take their daughter to the beach in the morning. The 6yearold is still missing. Mike silber was at home in new york. He saw the building of his uncle. Hes there looking for answers. Theres absolutely survivors in there. I hope its my family. I hope its everybody. Reporter Adriana Lafonse said her exhusband was also inside the building when it came down. She says in spanish she, too, hasnt given up hope of finding him alive. While there is hope, there is also growing frustration. Friends, Family Members and Community Volunteers gather to share their pain in between heavy bands of rain. The weather added to the un unwelcome stress. Whats making you tear up now . The sadness of what everybodys going through. If i if i didnt know where my parents were or my kids were for a day, id go nuts. Reporter this gentleman visiting from baltimore said he hopes to do his part to help those at ease. Youre by far the youngest volunteer here . Maybe, yeah. Reporter a little bit of levity who decided to spend his Vacation Time helping strangers. Theyre doing all they can but there are some growingly from us straighted and believe more can be done. There isnt enough resources here dedicated to the Rescue Effort. It is still very much a Rescue Effort. We spoke to sariah cohen whose husband and brotherinlaw she believes are trapped alive. It sounds as though she was willing to go in there herself. She believes more can be done and is embarrassed with the Recovery Effort. First responders doing all they can. Boris, you have to ask yourself, if you believed that your family was trapped under there alive or not enough was being done, what you would be willing to do, where your head would be at in that moment. Thats a question that a lot of people here have as were done day three now of waiting for answers. Boris . That agony of not knowing leads to desperation. Nick valencia, thank you so much. Joining us to discuss the process of going through this rescue is pete gomez, retired assistant miami fire chief from the citys Emergency Operations center for six years. We appreciate having you this morning and your expertise. I want to ask you about the frustration that were hearing from these families who are arguing that more can be done. Conversely, from officials weve heard that this has to be a painstaking process, that this has to be slow because their own lives are at risk. They could potentially hurt someone while trying to complete a rescue. If you could, describe what that process is like. Take us into that work of Clearing Debris and trying to rescue anyone who might still be alive. All right. I understand the frustrations and my condolences go out to everybody and everybodys family thats there, but this is not a youre not removing rubble leak you would from a collapsed building that you purposefully brought down to clear out so you can put another building or Something Like that. What youre doing is, i heard the term earlier, youre delayering all the debris on top and you have to be very careful with it because as you remove one piece, that piece could have an affect on something that its tied to, right . Ee spegly when youre talking about concrete and steel. And if you cut it or you move it, it can have an effect somewhere else. Youre not talking about just to save people responding, remember, this is still a Rescue Operation and in our mind and their mind, there are still people alive in that rubble pile and they dont want to cause even more damage if they are alive there or they dont want to cause death to somebody. So it has to be a very meticulous process. But i understand peoples frustrations. You just have to understand, this is the way its got to be done because it is such a dangerous situation. Pete, as im watching behind you i see what appears to be rain. I see dark clouds. Youre in key west. Youre not that far now from where we are in surf side and that weather is likely going to be here in just a matter of hours. How does the weather, how does the rain specifically complicate this process . Well, from the basement where they are working, obviously you already have water there so its going to accumulate more water making their work efforts a little bit more difficult, but on top you are now making, you know, all that rubble, the rocks there a lot more slippery so their footing is going to be affected by it plus theres an added weight to it. So it has that effect on the entire rubble pile itself. Plus it makes working a lot harder because obviously the rain is going to have an effect on your ability to pick up blocks and pick up spans and do some cutting. All of that is going to be affected by rain. Pete, i want to lean into the hope that you were talking about. Your team was actually in haiti after the devastating earthquake in 2010 and you were actually able to pull out a survivor, a woman in her 70s after five or six days following that earthquake. If you could, paint a picture for us of what someone who is alive in a pocket of rubble, what is that like . What are they going through . And what are the chances of survival as we now surpass 48 hours . Well, you hit the nail on the head. Weve experienced it. We have documented cases of pulling people out of these pockets. Haiti was a great case where we were able to pull a survivor out days after an event. As long as they can get oxygen, air in a pocket where theyre surviving, theyre going to be okay, but as the days go on and, you know, things move around, those pockets of air might become compromised so its imperative we get in there and get them out and or pump air into those voids where theyre at. There is still hope. I guarantee there isnt one rescue jer on that pile that doesnt believe they can still bring out somebody alive, and i would say to the families, we have to have hope and let the men and women there do their thing. Theyve done this a lot. Theyve trained for it. Its a methodical process but it has to be done this way. It requires an uncanny ability to maintain the focus you need facing potentially so much loss and all the obstacles we just outlined and still being able to focus on being hopeful and doing what you can to save lives. We appreciate your perspective. Thank you very much for getting up early for us. Youre welcome. So the collapse took place here in surf side, in the united states, but some of the missing come from all over Latin America. Venezuela, colombia, argentina. Now several Latin American countries confirm their citizens were in the surf side building. Youll hear from some of their families when we come back after a quick break. I became a sofi member because i needed to consolidate my credit card debt. I needed just one simple way to pay it all off. It was an easy decision to apply with sofi loans, just based on the Interest Rate and how much i would be saving. There was only one that stood out and one that actually made sense and that was sofi personal loans. It felt so freeing. I felt like i was finally out of this neverending trap of interest and payments and debt. My plaque psoriasis. The itching. The burning. The stinging. My skin was no longer mine. My psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen. Painful. Emerge tremfyant™. 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As the sunrises here in surf side, florida, the impact of this tragedy extends far beyond florida and even the united states. Rescue crews are now working around the clock cautiously removing rubble and also finding any of the 159 people still unaccounted for. So far only four deaths have been confirmed. That means that dozens of families are facing an agonizing way for answers. Among those still missing, 31 people from six Latin American countries. Authorities have confirmed that these folks either lived or were staying in the building when it collapsed. Cnns matt rivers has their story. Reporter well, so many families await news about their missing loved ones in miami right now. As more and more time passes, were getting more information about just how many people around the world really have been affected by all of this. The collapse happened on american soil but the impact of this tragedy expends far beyond u. S. Borders. Dozens of citizens from countries around Latin America are missing including venezuela, argentina, colombia, uruaguay and paraguay. Among them is the sister of par paraguays first lady. Her family told cnn it was her first ever trip outside the country. Were hoping for a miracle said her cousin, but we dont know if we should cry now or not. Also among the missing, a chilean citizen that is related to the former chilean president. Families came to miami for news of their loved ones, news that was difficult to come by. Nothing, we are desperate, she says. The atmosphere changed. Abigail pereira is a friend of an argentinian family with a 6yearold daughter. Shes holding on to whatever hope we can. We are people here with a bit of hope because its all that we have. The only thing they can tell us is there are these kind of Micro Capsules where there could be survivors. For rescuers the work is continuing digging through debris, Heavy Machinery involved called an all stop, everyone listens for people who might be alive. For families there is only the agony of waiting, many choosing to do so inside a center set up for those with missing loved ones. Its horrible, horrible says this woman, of what its like inside the center. You see a lot of pain. This is known affectionately by people known as little ban know aries. As the hours go by, there is the chance that the number of South American citizens affected by the collapse goes up even as the chance of finding people alive goes down. Boris, we know that a lot of the countries whose citizens have been affected by this have consulates in miami. Some have been calling around to area hospitals trying to get news about their missing citizens. Unfortunately in many cases, not getting the kind of positive results that they were hoping for. Boris. Matt rivers from mexico city. Thank you so much for that. There are a lot of people that can use a helping hand right now, and you can help the collapse victims and their families.