But because the buildings are not occupied at the time, the degree of damage and injury is limited. A case involving a crane in Milwaukee is an example. In this case, a crane failed while lifting an enormous piece of roof truss into place. Completion will be delayed a year or more. While these are not inconsequential damages, they would pale in comparison to those that would have resulted from the same piece of roof falling on an occupied building.
Structural collapse is certainly newsworthy.
However, less exciting failures are far more common. Failure of the building envelope, for example, is very common and probably results in greater economic loss than structural failure. When water penetrates the roof, walls, windows, or foundation, serious problems almost always occur. Wood will rot and steel will rust, leading eventually to structural failure. Even if there is no significant loss of strength, dimensional change and corrosion can easily damage nearly any finish and present us with continued problems.