On the 28th local time, the Magistrate of Miami-Dade County, Florida, reported the search and rescue of the collapsed apartment building, saying that the death toll rose to 11 and 150 people were still missing. Staff from the County Fire Rescue Center said that the rescue is still ongoing, although “the possibility of finding survivors is getting smaller and smaller.” US President Biden said on the 29th that he would go to the scene of the accident “as soon as Thursday”.
In the rescue of the accident, Florida sent 8 search and rescue teams with about 370 people to participate in the rescue. State officials said this was the largest rescue operation in the state’s history except for a hurricane disaster. Florida Governor DeSantis praised the search and rescue personnel on the scene at a press conference on the 28th, saying that they have worked continuously for more than 100 hours. He emphasized that search and rescue will not stop. However, although many American media have set up real-time live broadcasts of pictures and texts for the accident, the search and rescue figures have slowed to the level of “daily changes”.
Why is the rescue so slow? Benneti, who served as the director of the New York City Mayor’s Office during the “9.11” incident, told the Washington Post that rescuers must be careful, “When looking for survivors, they may encounter casualties. The scene is unstable… When you lift the debris, the ground under your feet is likely to move. These rescuers are doing heroic work to find survivors. This is a dangerous job.” The New York Post said on the 28th, Florida The search and rescue work at the collapsed apartment building is similar to the recovery work of the Twin Towers after the “9.11” incident. Essen, who was former New York City Fire Commissioner in 2001, said that it is not only the weight of the debris that causes the danger, but the fire may break out in the ruins. “If you put out the fire with water, you have to worry about drowning people.”
Although most US media are explaining the slow search and rescue, NBC’s comments on the 29th pointed out sharply that the collapse of an apartment building in Miami shows that the United States has never been able to deal with the disaster correctly—“In the case of death every minute. , We can’t force the cross-city and cross-state to call resources instantly, it’s just killing people.” The comment said that the division of powers between the US local-state-federal states prevents the country from guaranteeing a rapid and effective response in the face of major disasters. The apartment building collapsed at 1:30 in the morning on the 24th, but the victim had to wait 16 hours before the documents at all levels were signed and the state of emergency was announced. Thereafter, until the 27th, all eight state-level search and rescue teams were in place. The United States should learn how to quickly coordinate and respond to major disasters after “9.11” and Hurricane Katrina. However, the United States has still been unable to produce a coherent plan.
Not only that, the Florida Press Association website reported on the 28th that shortly after the tragedy of the collapse of an apartment building in Florida, the state’s Democratic governor candidate Nicky Fried politicized the fatal incident and challenged Republican Governor De Santi. Sri Lanka’s two political attacks. “This tragedy does not require your political enthusiasm.” The National Review warned on the 28th, “This is a tragedy, not an election.”
