Updated: Downtown Sarasota condo tower evacuated
City officials went door to door in Dolphin Towers this morning, checking to make sure residents had evacuated the building deemed unsafe Wednesday.
Just before the 11 a.m. evacuation deadline, the last residents carried what possessions they could out of the 15-story building. Some shed tears, but most are trying to make the best of a situation they cannot control – going on a trip or visiting relatives – said building supervisors.
An engineering firm and the city still do not know today why the support structure of the 117-unit building has shifted, discovered June 24 when walls buckled and a cracked formed in a fourth-floor unit.
The city ordered the building evacuated until the tower’s support structure can be stabilized, meaning residents could be displaced anywhere from a few days to several months.