Building Safety in Question: Tragedies in Iowa and Rochester Highlight Urgent Need for Action

The body of one of the three missing men has been found after the partial collapse of an apartment building in Davenport, Iowa. Two other men are still unaccounted for. The search for survivors has been completed, and recovery efforts are underway. The building was constantly shifting and at risk of further collapse, putting rescuers at great risk. Questions have been raised about why neither the owner nor city officials warned residents about potential danger even after a structural engineer’s report indicated a wall of the century-old building was at imminent risk of crumbling.