The remaining portion of the condominium building in Surfside, Fla., will come down as \u00ab\u00a0soon as possible\u00a0\u00bb as a tropical storm approaches the state, officials said Sunday.<\/b>
\nJuly 4 (UPI) — The remaining portion of the condominium building in Surfside, Fla., will come down as \u00ab\u00a0soon as possible\u00a0\u00bb as a tropical storm approaches the state, officials said Sunday. The bodies of 24 people, including three children, have been recovered from the Champlain Towers South, but 121 people are still missing. Those figures haven’t changed since Saturday morning. More than half the 13-story building collapsed 10 days ago. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Saturday the planned demolition of the upright portion of the building, which had been scheduled for late July, is now being pushed up to avoid Tropical Storm Elsa. Miami-Dade County is one of the 15 Florida counties for which DeSantis has already declared a state of emergency in anticipation of the storm. Search and rescue efforts have been on hold since Saturday afternoon as workers were drilling into columns where small explosive charges will be placed. Residents in nearby buildings do not need to evacuate but should stay indoors due to dust, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Sunday during a virtual news conference from the county’s emergency operations center in Doral on Sunday, the \u00ab\u00a0top priority is that the building come down as soon as possible… and as safely as possible.\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0As soon as the preparation is ready, the site is secured and the team is ready to go, we will begin the demolition,\u00a0\u00bb she said. Surfside’s mayor told CBS’ Face the Nation Sunday the search for survivors and recovery of bodies is expected to resume once the ruined structure is safely down. \u00ab\u00a0The fact that the building is being prepared to be demolished has stopped the work, which is critical,\u00a0\u00bb Burkett said. \u00ab\u00a0We need to get back to work as soon as possible. We need to get this building taken down and we need to move forward with the rescue of all those people that are still left in the rubble.\u00a0\u00bb He also called the storm a \u00ab\u00a0blessing in disguise.\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0The building’s been a problem since the very beginning, and we need to eliminate all the problems and all the barriers to getting everybody out of there,\u00a0\u00bb Burkett said. \u00ab\u00a0So once this building’s down, it’s going to be a green light to move full speed ahead, maximum effort to pull these people out and reunite them with their family.\u00a0\u00bb Rescuers from around the nation have assisted in the search process. \u00ab\u00a0Due to the arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa to Florida, the Florida task forces that have assisted at the Champlain Towers building collapse are going home, but task forces from across the U.S. have arrived to further assist in search & rescue efforts,\u00a0\u00bb Miami-Dade Fire Rescue posted on Twitter.<\/p>\n