Georgetown Waterfront Flooded; Flood Walls Not in Place

The Washington Harbour complex on the Georgetown Waterfront flooded after heavy rain fall resulted in an unusually high tide late Sunday night. The flood walls were not fully in place. Buildings along the Harbour at K Street were Monday morning evacuated due to basement flooding; waterfront restaurants were under a reported 10 feet of water.

By noon emergency crews working to erect the remaining flood walls at the Washington Harbour. According to Pete Piringer from D.C. Fire and EMS it is the responsibility of the property management company to put them in place.

In a statement sent through a PR representative, MRP Realty, the owner of the Washington Harbour wrote:

"We have taken precautions to protect the residents, tenants and visitors to Washington Harbour, including evacuating the commercial tenants and are working expeditiously to mitigate further damage."

It is still unclear why the flood walls were not put in place earlier.

Steve LeBel, deputy associate regional director for the National Park Service (NPS), said the concern is that there could potentially be more damage when the next high tide comes in.

Additionally, LeBel said expected rain fall Tuesday and Wednesday could coincide with high tide on those days, causing another crest and additional flooding conditions. Flooding is not unexpected on the Georgetown waterfront during spring rains.