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Condo searchers eye tropical forecast as effort stretches on

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Posted at 2:27 AM, Jun 30, 2021
and last updated 2021-06-30 07:16:09-04

Authorities in Florida have requested an additional search and rescue team to help look for survivors in the rubble of a collapsed condo tower.

Kevin Guthrie of the Florida Division of Emergency Management said his agency asked for an additional team from the federal government. He said the new team would allow crews that have been working at the site for days to rotate out and be on hand if severe weather hits the area in the coming days.

The National Hurricane Center says two disorganized storm systems in the Atlantic have a chance of becoming tropical systems in the coming days, but it is unclear at this point whether they would pose a threat to the U.S.

Disturbances 1 and 2 — the temporary names given to the storms by the National Hurricane Center— are currently churning out in the Atlantic Ocean. The NHC says there is a 50% chance that Disturbance 1 forms into a tropical cyclone in the next two days.

On Tuesday, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said that rescuers on-site had continued to work through rainstorms and other inclement weather since the collapse occurred Thursday morning.

"They're working through inclement weather; they're working harder than they ever have," Levine Cava said as rain poured down during a Tuesday morning press conference.

As of Tuesday evening, 12 people were confirmed dead following the collapse. Another 149 people who were presumed to be in the building at the time are still missing.