“Thick, black smoke engulfed the site of a Miami-area condo collapse on Friday afternoon, hindering the already desperate efforts to rescue survivors from the rubble. Frequent fires and heavy rain have provided constant obstacles. Around 4 p.m., an extremely thick cloud of smoke filled the sky and at least three fire trucks were seen heading toward the collapse site. The smoke covered the rubble and made it difficult to see. ‘The weather had been our main obstacle,’ Howard Lieberman, a member of Miami-Dade’s urban search and rescue task force, told The Daily Beast.”

“As many as 159 people were still missing on Friday afternoon, after an entire side of the Champlain Towers complex in Surfside abruptly collapsed in the wee hours of Thursday morning. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the death toll stands at four – but has made it clear that the number is certain to rise. After solemnly admitting on Friday morning that crews had a ‘tragic night,’ Cava said later in the day that first responders were painstakingly lifting debris and were ‘desperate to find people.’ Authorities said their search had shifted entirely to the massive pile of rubble after the intact units of the ruined building were cleared of initial survivors. Chief Ray Jadallah of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said on Friday that crews reported hearing noises under the pile overnight. ‘We have hope, and every time that we hear a sound, we concentrate on that area… as we continue to hear those sounds, we concentrate on those areas,’ said the fire chief. ‘The entire building – the portion that’s still standing – was cleared by rescue crews. So at this point, all resources have been shifted to the rubble, including from above and from below'” – Daily Beast.