Prepping for a nightmare scenario: What happens if there's a condo collapse in Volusia County?

From mass shootings to monster hurricanes, Volusia County emergency management officials and first responders must be ready for anything. This week, some are training on how to respond to what would be a true nightmare: A condo collapse in Daytona Beach Shores.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is hosting the training at the county's Emergency Operations Center at 3825 Tiger Bay Road Daytona Beach. Volusia County and chose the scenario. The county's coastline is lined with condos and hotels, and some were evacuated as a precaution because of Hurricane Ian and Tropical Storm Nicole.

The center is the hub for disaster response in the county, where law enforcement, firefighters, local governments and others all have representatives to coordinate resources and save lives.

The training is a tabletop exercise, meaning there's no one pretending to be injured out in the field. Instead, it allows officials to act as they would if they were at the Emergency Operations Center responding to a real disaster. It gives officials a chance to work with each other in advance of a real crisis.

County officials said they don't believe any structures along the coast are in danger of collapse. But it's a possibility they have to be ready for.

"We want (the training) to be relevant and not be pie in the sky, so there's a potential here, right?" Volusia County Emergency Management Director Clint Mecham said. "Again, we're not expecting anything to tip over. We don't think anything's going to tip over. But Surfside was probably the same way, right? They weren't expecting a building to tip over."

In 2021, 98 people died after the Champlain Towers South condo building partially collapsed in Surfside, Florida. A state law passed in 2022 requires condo buildings to be inspected regularly based on their age. Among other things, the law requires buildings 30 years old and older to be inspected by Dec. 31 of this year.

The training is called the FEMA Integrated Emergency Management Course, and it began Monday and will end Thursday. The county invited the media to attend part of the training on Wednesday.

The goal of the training is "to strengthen emergency response efforts through collaborative exercises involving Volusia County, local municipalities, state agencies, first responders, and community partners," according to the county. "(The Integrated Emergency Management Course) is designed to simulate crisis scenarios within a structured learning environment, emphasizing the importance of awareness, leadership, and effective communication among emergency personnel."

FEMA hosts about 12 Integrated Emergency Management Course trainings each year in the U.S., and local government leaders choose the scenario and work with FEMA to prepare for the training, said James Greenshields, training specialist with FEMA.

"It's not just a rinse and repeat class. It is very tailored for the community," he said.

FEMA scenario training: 24 hours in, 30 dead after collapse

Over 80 people were participating in the FEMA training, according to the county.

An official prepared a room of people around 10 a.m. on Wednesday and updated people on the scenario: a condo collapse had occurred at 3705 S. Atlantic Ave. about 24 hours prior, killing 30 people.

"This is not a real address. This is pretend, so any building that exists near this address is safe and is not at risk for collapse," the trainer said.

The numbers in the scenario were grim: "Thirty dead at the scene. Five in critical condition. Ten in stable condition. Five with injuries requiring transport and five with injuries that do not require transport," the official said.

Officials from local governments, FEMA, the Florida Department of Emergency Management and other agencies would have to decide how to respond to requests for resources, prepare emergency updates, inform the community and control the scene, among other things.

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Daytona Beach Shores City Manager Kurt Swartzlander worked with other government leaders on putting together a mock emergency declaration.

He said the biggest thing the training had provided was a chance to learn what resources would be needed for such an event, work with other agencies and build relationships.

Swartzlander said he's not concerned about any buildings in Daytona Beach Shores actually collapsing.

"I don't think we have those issues, fortunately, in the Shores," he said. "We have a lot of newer buildings. But anything is possible. So I don't want to concern our citizens. But with the state doing the structural integrity reserve study requirements, we're going to have a good idea by the end of this year where all of our buildings are really at."

Volusia County Emergency Services Director Jim Judge said the county has been working for over a year to get this week's training in place. In the past, the county has trained on events like wildfires and a train derailment.

After Ian and Nicole, the county figured a faux condo collapse would be the best training.

"We had to evacuate dozens of condominiums, hotels, then we really got together and thought you know what? Let's go with a building collapse because it certainly is a potential not only here in Volusia County but in other areas along the coast," Judge said.

Judge said that while the buildings are "extremely well built," they are also "getting older and, you know, saltwater is not kind to rebar and so forth."

He said there were never any "condo or significant facilities" in real danger of collapsing during the hurricanes, but officials evacuated people out of an abundance of caution.

― C. A. Bridges of the USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Fake condo collapse in Daytona Beach Shores is focus of FEMA training