The survivors of the collapse will receive nearly $1 billion in settlement.

In June of last year, a condominium in Surfside, Florida experienced a partial collapse, resulting in the deaths of 98 people and displacing hundreds more. The collapsed sparked a massive investigation to determine the cause of the collapse, and who should be held responsible for it. Now, nearly a year later, those affected by the collapse are receiving recompense.

The lawyers representing the survivors of the incident successfully secured a $997 million settlement, compensating both the survivors in general and the families of those killed in the collapse. When Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman received news of this settlement, he was, in his own words, “speechless.”

“I’m shocked by this result — I think it’s fantastic,” the judge told the courtroom. “This is a recovery that is far in excess of what I had anticipated.”

The 12-story Champlain Towers South condiminium collapsed abruptly in the early-morning hours of June 24 in Surfside, Florida, killing 98 people. https://t.co/FoBKDsZzh0

— HuffPost (@HuffPost) May 11, 2022

Judge Hanzman is hoping to have the settlement finalized by the anniversary of the collapse in June, with payouts to begin by the fall. “Some of the victims can never recover from this loss and we know that,” Hanzman said. “My goal was to do everything humanly possible to conclude this case by the first anniversary of the collapse.”

According to attorney Judd Rosen, the settlement “represents accountability from a lot of different players.”

“It’s the largest settlement from a single incident in US history,” Rosen said. “The number itself implies significant accountability on what happened.”