The Miami condo that partially collapsed nearly two weeks ago has now been demolished to help make the site safer for search teams.
At least 24 people are confirmed dead and 121 are missing, although the search for those has been suspended.
What was remaining of the structure was demolished just after 10:30pm on Sunday (local time) in a controlled explosion.
"The method of demolition is known as energetic felling," says Miami-Dade mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
"It's a process that uses small, strategically placed explosives and relies on gravity to bring the building down in place."
Authorities made the call to pause rescue efforts for the controlled demolition as Miami prepares to brace against tropical storm Elsa.
The demolition will make the site safer for the search and rescue teams still fighting against the clock, and the odds, for signs of life.
"Bringing the building down in a controlled manner is critical to expanding our scope of search, as you know, in the pile and allowing us to search in the area closest to the building, which has currently not been accessible to the teams given the great risk to our first responders due to the instability of the building," Levine Cava says.
It's been 11 days since 55 of the building's 136 units collapsed, but no one is prepared to give up hope of finding bodies.
"Nobody should be talking about recovery, that as far as I'm concerned that needs to be shut down, straight away," Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett says.
"We're rescuing people, we're pulling people out, everybody's doing that, we're all pulling in the same direction and that's the way it's going to be."
Engineers will now work to sign off the site as safe before these determined teams can get back to picking through this pile of rubble for survivors.
