Florida's changing geography, which may have played a role in the deadly partial collapse of a 12-story condominium, is threatening the foundations of thousands of buildings at a pace that makes it undetectable to insurers' underwriting policies, according to one risk consultant.
Homeowner associations are not legally obligated to reveal structural flaws like the ones that allegedly weakened the base of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Fla., years before its catastrophic partial collapse, said Albert Slap, president and co-founder of Coastal Risk Consulting LLC. The Boca Raton-based company provides flood risk assessment for homeowners, businesses and local governments.
An engineer contracted to inspect the building alerted the Champlain Towers homeowner association about significant foundation damage in 2018, The New York Times reported in late June.
Partially collapsed Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Fla.
Homeowners and governing boards for Florida's coastline residential high rises have several disincentives for looking for or disclosing structural problems, Slap said in an interview. They are often reluctant to pay for needed assessments and hesitant to reveal flaws that could depress property values or lead to costly repairs.
"The boards don't want to disclose this stuff, and the owners don't want to disclose it because they're concerned about its impact on resale," Slap said. The exact cause of the building's partial destruction will likely take months to determine at the very least, government authorities have told multiple media outlets.
Flood assessments for oceanside buildings are too often behind the curve of climate change, according to Slap. Experts generally tend to focus on the rise of sea levels potentially overtaking buildings above the surface, he said, but an unaccounted-for threat is actually from underground, where rising seas push groundwater to the surface.
Coastal Risk Consulting has assessed building foundations and underground parking garages being flooded "on a constant basis," Slap said.
"There are thousands of coastal condos … that have this condition, and that condition is going to get worse," he added.
Great American Insurance Co. is believed to be the lead carrier for Champlain Towers' all other perils property coverage of Champlain Towers South, according to The Insurer. A lawyer for James River Insurance Co. submitted a letter to a local judge stating that the company would commit the entirety of its $5 million general liability coverage limit to resolve claims from lawsuits, which media reports stated had already begun to mount on behalf of survivors.