The study revealed that in southwest South Beach, there is significant coastal flooding. It also identified other parts of northeast Miami Beach where the ground has sunk. The report was done by Shimon Wdowinski, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University. He studied Miami Beach last year and a coastal town in Virginia to see where coastal flooding might have impacted the ground and caused it to sink. When Champlain Towers collapsed on Thursday, Wdowinski said it came as no surprise given his research last year. It's unclear if he gave any kind of warning to the building operators last year after he carried out his research. It found that the ground beneath the building has been sinking at a rate of 1.9mm every year since the 1990s.