From Fox News:
At least one person was hurt when the parking garage at the Watergate complex suddenly collapsed.
A search was underway Friday evening to see if there are additional victims.
During the search, a dog received a positive hit inside the garage, according to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. Officials said they do not know for sure if anyone is down there.
The parking garage, which was under construction, collapsed just after 10 a.m. Cars were crushed, concrete collapsed and everyone was evacuated.
“It looked like a war zone or something. It was nothing I’ve ever seen before in my life!” said Tom Wall, who went down to the garage to check on a friend’s car. “His car was right next to the other car that got completely obliterated by building debris.”
D.C. Fire and EMS said one person suffered minor injuries. Now, a cause is under investigation.
Here is some coverage from CNN
Good point, Jill!
Living in So CA, I really hate parking garages, ever since one of them fell in on students at Cal State Northdridge. I suppose they’re a necessary evil, but I avoid them when I can.
I’m glad no one was hurt there.
Who said the office was in a garage? The building had a structural collapse, not the part of the building the office was in.
I didn’t realize the LP office had been in a parking garage.
Update from Wes Benedict:
Here’s an update from the management (courtesy of Robert Kraus). We
actually to still have a storage unit in the basement with a couple
hundred boxes of archives. I was hoping to move those materials to a
climate-controlled storage unit near 1444 Duke St. sometime soon. We’ll
be monitoring the situation.
> Dear Tenants,
>
> At this time, while a definitive determination has not yet been made
> by DCRA and the engineering team on site, we anticipate that 2600
> Virginia Ave will be open tomorrow and that tenants will be allowed to
> resume normal business activities. Please note the following:
>
> -All garage areas will remain closed until further notice.
> Accordingly, we are working to finalize offsite parking arrangements
> and will send out an update later today with the details. Please note
> that this offsite parking is in the south garage of the Kennedy
> Center, approximately 5 blocks away from 2600 Virginia Ave, and
> employees should plan accordingly to allow adequate time to walk to
> the office. We encourage the use of public transportation if possible.
>
> -All tenants must enter the building through the main entrance on
> Virginia Ave. There will be no other access points to the building.
>
> -Both the service lane and eastbound portion of Virginia Ave will
> remain closed to vehicular traffic until further notice.
>
> -While we are currently able to provide cooling to the building, we
> cannot guarantee that temperatures will remain comfortable throughout
> the day as the central plant is operating at a reduced capacity and we
> are expecting warm temperatures on Monday. In an effort to compensate
> for this, we will run the HVAC system overnight to pre-cool the
> building which will likely mean that colder than normal temperatures
> will be present in the morning. Additionally, service interruptions
> are possible as work continues in the affected areas.
>
> -As the central plant is not providing steam service, hot water will
> be unavailable until further notice. Hand sanitizer will be provided
> in all bathrooms.
>
> -Please be advised that loud noise will be audible as work progresses
> in the courtyard and garage areas.
>
> An update will be sent out prior to 6:00pm confirming whether the
> building will be open tomorrow along with full details for the
> alternate parking arrangements..
>
> Thank you for your understanding and patience as we continue to work
> through this difficult time.
>
> *Joe Duffy*| Property Manager
I parked down there many times. It is scary. I would have expected this to happen eventually.