At Collapsed Condo, Biden Focuses On Survivors’ Mental Health Needs
"It used to drive me crazy when they'd say I know how you feel," President Joe Biden told the families at Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, recounting the deaths of his wife, daughter and son. "And you know they meant well, but you know they had no idea. None."
CNN:
'Never Give Up Hope': Biden Reprises Role As Consoler-In-Chief During South Florida Visit
President Joe Biden, whose empathy amid loss is his chief political characteristic, traveled Thursday to console families in Florida enduring the excruciating search for loved ones inside a seaside condo that suddenly collapsed a week ago. "Never give up hope," he told the anguished relatives of those still missing, who had gathered in a hotel ballroom to hear from a President whose own reckoning with grief has colored his personal and political lives. Later, Biden told reporters the families were "going through hell" as they question whether they'll ever be able to recover their loved ones' remains. (Liptak, 7/1)
AP:
'Waiting Is Unbearable': Biden Consoles Surfside Families
The Bidens arrived in Florida a week after the collapse of the 12-story Champlain Towers South beachfront condominium killed at least 18 people and left 145 missing. Hundreds of first responders and search-and-rescue personnel have been painstakingly searching the pancaked rubble for potential signs of life. No one has been rescued since the first hours after the collapse. ... “There’s gonna be a lot of pain and anxiety and suffering and even the need for psychological help in the days and months that follow. And so, we’re not going anywhere,” Biden said. (Jaffe and Lemire, 7/1)
The Washington Post:
Biden Talks Of His Own Anguish As He Meets Family Members In Florida
President Biden on Thursday recalled the anguish of the hours after a car crash killed his first wife and infant daughter, and not knowing whether his two sons would survive — just as relatives now are desperately hoping their loved ones are still alive amid the rubble of a collapsed condo building. “It just brought back so many, so many memories,” Biden said, his tone serious, his cadence slow. “It’s bad enough. It’s bad enough to lose somebody. But the hard part, the really hard part, is to not know whether they’re surviving or not, just not having any idea.” (Sullivan and Gearan, 7/1)
Also —
NBC News:
Miami Condo Collapse Stirs Painful Memories For Families Of 9/11 Victims
Monica Iken-Murphy has barely slept through the night since the collapse of Champlain Towers South last week. She has been glued to cable news coverage of the disaster every day, often breaking down in tears. She is experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. The reports from the scene fill her with sorrow and rage. "It's pure torture for me," Iken-Murphy said in a phone interview Wednesday. The building collapse has devastated the community of Surfside, Florida, and gripped much of the nation. But the pain is particularly acute for Iken-Murphy, whose first husband was working inside the World Trade Center's South Tower on 9/11. (Arkin, 7/1)
NBC News:
72 Units Of Central Florida Condo Complex Deemed Unsafe, Residents Relocated
Residents at a condominium complex in Central Florida were forced to relocate Wednesday after an inspection deemed the structure unsafe because walkways were at risk of collapsing, authorities said. Osceola County officials said 72 units in multiple buildings were deemed safety threats at Images Condominiums in Kissimmee, about 20 miles south of Orlando. (Plan as, 7/1)
