Miami condo rescue efforts HALTED amid fears remaining structure might topple on rescuers ahead of Biden's visit today - as tropical storm heads for disaster site

Rescue efforts at the Miami condo tower have been forced to come to a halt amid fears the remaining structure could topple on search and rescue teams. 

The area around the Champlain Towers South building was cleared and the hunt for victims and survivors among the rubble put on pause just after 2am Thursday - almost exactly one week to the minute on from the collapse at 1.25am on June 24. 

Officials said at a Thursday morning press briefing several on-site structural engineers had issued warnings about the safety of first responders working beneath the part of the structure still standing. 

Six to 12 inches of movement had been noted in a large column that was hanging from the structure that experts warned could fall and cause damage to support structures, keeping the shell of the building upright. 

As of 10am local time, the search was yet to resume as experts worked out how to proceed safely - costing valuable time as hopes of finding anyone else alive increasingly fade. 

The latest blow to the search efforts comes as Joe Biden paid a visit to Surfside, Florida, Thursday, and as the collapse site is now in danger of being hammered by a tropical storm charting its path across the Atlantic this week.

Rescue efforts at the Miami condo tower were forced to come to a halt early Thursday amid fears the remaining structure could topple on search and rescue teams. Coast guard boats patrol in front of the partially collapsed building early Thursday 

Rescue workers search in the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condominium Wednesday beneath the still standing structure

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a Thursday morning press conference that 'structural concerns' had led to the halting of the search and rescue operation. 

'We were forced to halt operations on the the collapse in the early hours of the morning due to structural concerns about the standing structure,' she said.

Cava vowed to resume the search as soon as it is safe to do so as she said the safety of rescue teams was 'paramount.'

'We're doing everything that we can to ensure that the safety of our first responders is paramount and to continue our search and rescue operations as soon as it is safe to do so,' she said. 

'And our engineers are continuing to monitor the structure as we've paused operations to evaluate the situation and all possible options and next steps including with the assistance of the state engineers.'

She added that the disruption was nothing to do with the president's visit and insisted 'the search and rescue operation will continue as soon as it is safe to do so'.

'The only reason for this pause is concerns about the standing structure,' she added.

'We've already informed the families this morning who were waiting and waiting about this development and we have worked to answer all of the questions that they have about the operation.'   

Officials are also facing the prospect that the search could be hampered further over the coming days by a tropical storm that threatens to strike Miami-Dade early next week.  

Tropical Storm Elsa formed over the tropical Atlantic early Thursday morning, with all of South Florida now in its potential path. 

Police stand near the condo building early Thursday as the search was halted overnight 

Search and rescue teams look for possible survivors in the partially collapsed 12-story condo tower Wednesday 

National Hurricane Center forecasters said Elsa, now the fifth named storm of the season, could take aim at Miami-Dade county by Monday - marking a blow to the county currently grappling with the aftermath of the condo collapse.  

Palm Beach and Broward counties are also within its potential path. 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Thursday morning the state was 'actively monitoring' the storm and coming up with contingency plans for if and when it strikes. 

'Obviously the state meteorologist team is actively monitoring the storm and will continue to provide updates and our department of emergency management continues to implement contingency plans for potential tropical weather impacts including identifying alternate work facilities,' he said in the press briefing.   

Elsa had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph with higher gusts and was 865 miles east-southeast of the Windward Islands, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 105 miles from the center and it was moving west at 25 mph. 

An even faster motion to the west-northwest is expected over the next 24 to 36 hours. 

The Caribbean is bracing for heavy rains that may lead to isolated flash flooding and mudslides, with tropical storm warnings issued for Barbados, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. 

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a Thursday morning press conference that 'structural concerns' had led to the halting of the search and rescue operation which is yet to resume several hours on 

A tropical storm watch is also in effect for Guadeloupe. 

The storm is expected to pass near or over portions of the Windward Islands or the southern Leeward Islands on Friday, move into the eastern Caribbean Sea late Friday and Friday night, and move near the southern coast of Hispaniola on Saturday.

Elsa is forecast to produce rainfall totals of 3 to 6 inches (7 to 15 centimeters) with maximum totals of 8 inches (20 centimeters) inches on Friday across the Windward and southern Leeward Islands, including Barbados. 

The storm - which forecasters warn could increase to a hurricane - could carry on its track to Florida by early next week, with the southern part of the state currently in the cone for potential impacts.  

Forecasters said it was too early to tell for certain if Florida will be impacted by the storm.

This will depend on whether Elsa's track from Saturday. If the storm tracks further south it may well avoid Florida but if it tracks north the area the state will likely be in its path.   

WPEC-CBS12 meteorologist Lauren Olesky said the water in the Atlantic seems warm enough to carry the storm all the way to South Florida.

The collapse site is now in danger of being hammered by Tropical Storm Elsa which is charting its path across the Atlantic this week

All of South Florida including Miami-Dade is now in its potential path to be hit Monday or Tuesday

However, either way, it seems likely to at least dump more heavy rain on the hard-hit state.  

The potential arrival of Elsa is just the latest issue that has hampered search and rescue efforts at the collapse site, after emergency teams have faced challenging weather during Florida's rainy season and deep fires within the rubble. 

Officials on Saturday said the mission had been made more challenging by raging fires burning beneath the surface of the rubble which firefighters struggled to locate the source of.  

Now, more than one week on from the tragedy, 145 people remain missing in the rubble.

More bodies were pulled from the debris Wednesday, taking the confirmed dearth toll to 18.

The latest victims were identified as two young sisters Lucia Guara, 10, and Emma Guara, 4, whose parents were previously also confirmed among the dead.  

President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will visit the site Thursday and meet with the families of the victims and those still unaccounted for. 

The Bidens departed the White House early, as he plans to attends a command briefing to update him on the rescue efforts at 10am ET.

He will also meet with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and other officials.  

The president will then spend hours with family members before delivering remarks at the site, which is shaping up to be one of the deadliest non-intentional building collapse in US history. 

Though it is too early to say for certain if the storm will hit the state, it is likely to experience heavy rainfall - further hampering search and rescue efforts

Biden declared a state of emergency in Florida in the early hours of Friday morning and sent in federal aid to assist in the search.

The federal government has also sent in a team of scientists and engineers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology as questions continue to mount about what caused the 1980s building to suddenly collapse. 

NIST is the federal government agency responsible for leading investigations into building failures and was set up after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.     

A structural engineer investigating the collapse has suggested that the swimming pool deck may have caved in first and brought down the rest of the building with it. 

Allyn E. Kilsheimer told The Washington Post: 'There is a possibility that part of the pool came down first and then dragged the middle of the building with it, and that made that collapse. 

President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden walk towards Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base on their journey to Florida Thursday

The Bidens (boarding Air Force One) will visit the collapse site Thursday and meet with the families of the victims and those still unaccounted for

'And then once the middle of the building collapsed, number two, then the rest of the building didn't know how to stand up and it fell down also, number three.'

This theory also matches witness accounts who say they saw sections of the pool deck collapse into the garage below.  

Investigators are also probing whether there was critical failures in the handling of the building's maintenance. 

A consultant engineer warned in a damning October 2018 report that the Champlain Towers South had 'major structural damage' to the pool deck area and underground parking garage. 

The structural field survey report, released by the town of Surfside overnight Friday, specifically raised concerns about the pool deck area, in which the waterproofing was failing, and the underground parking garage which was riddled with 'abundant' cracking. 

It said the 12-story condo was in need of numerous repairs around the base of the structure 'in a timely fashion.' 

Alarming footage taken by a bystander minutes before the collapse shows water flowing rapidly from the roof of the garage. 

A structural engineer investigating the collapse has suggested that the swimming pool deck may have caved in first and brought down the rest of the building with it. Above shows how it crumbled - at ground level - into the underground parking level beneath it

A new video purports to show water gushing from the ceiling of the Miami condo building's garage while concrete debris litters the floor