Cracked floors, bowed walls: Many warnings but no action at Iowa building before deadly collapse

It seems everyone from the structural engineer to city officials to tenants had concerns about the 116-year-old Davenport apartment building. But no one ordered residents out, and it was only when a section of the six-story building tumbled to the ground on May 28 that everyone seemed to connect the dots. By then, three men were dead, about 50 tenants were left homeless and the city was faced with one of its taller buildings at risk of crumbling in the heart of its downtown. Davenport Mayor Mike Matson said, “I don’t know that anyone can anticipate a building collapsing.” Maybe not, but what is clear is that while many people anticipated trouble, no one took definitive action to prevent it.