The search and rescue mission at the collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida, was suspended on Saturday as a crew prepared for the demolition of the remainder of the building, according to NBC Miami.
Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah told family members that rescuers stopped their search at about 4:00 p.m. ET, when demolition crews began boring holes into the concrete of the still-standing portion of Champlain Towers South.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the search and rescue operations will resume immediately after receiving the all-clear from engineers.
At a news conference Saturday morning, Levine Cava said two more bodies were found at the site, bringing the death toll to 24. She said 121 remain unaccounted for.
Officials are also keeping watch as to the potential impacts of Tropical Storm Elsa may pose to South Florida and Surfside specifically.
The National Hurricane Center on Saturday evening issued the first tropical storm watch for the US in the middle and lower Florida Keys from Craig Key westward to the Dry Tortugas.
The 8:00 p.m. ET advisory has the storm with winds of 70 miles per hour sitting about 40 miles south-southwest of Tiburon, Haiti. The storm is moving to the west-northwest at 23 miles per hour.
Authorities had previously halted the rescue and recovery effort early Thursday after they detected movement that raised concerns a section of the high-rise tower still standing might topple onto search crews in the debris field, but the operation was restarted about 15 hours later.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited the community. During the visit, they met with Levine Cava and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The President offered to have the federal government fully fund the rescue and recovery efforts for the first 30 days, telling the officials that they just had to "pick up the phone" and ask for whatever they needed.
Later, Biden met with local Chabad rabbis, many of whom have community members who are missing.
One of the rabbis, Rabbi Yankie Fellig, told Biden that his sister and brother-in-law were in the building.
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