A coastal flood warning for the Washington area remained in effect through noon Tuesday after the Potomac River overflowed, drowning Georgetown businesses and putting several lives in peril. Emergency personnel evacuated the Washington Harbour on Monday morning as water overtook the terrace level when the property owner failed to erect the flood wall designed to keep the area safe, D.C. Fire and EMS spokesman Pete Piringer said.
Meanwhile, dozens of people were rescued from the rising water — including a Boy Scout troop — as the Potomac rose to five feet above flood stage.
Carrie Larsen, a metereologist with the National Weather Service’s Baltimore/Washington office, expected a high tide for Tuesday morning of 9:45 a.m. She urged commuters to leave early for work and to steer clear of the water.
“It only takes about a foot of water to sweep a car off the road,” Larsen said.
As a result of the flooding, the Foggy Bottom Metro station lost power Monday afternoon. Although open for operation, the lights, fare gates, escalators and elevators were out as of early Monday evening.
Hains Point was partially under water, while the Washington Harbour sustained the most damage as the Georgetown waterfront overflowed Monday morning, Piringer said.
Tony & Joe’s Seafood Place flooded the most, while popular restaurants Farmers & Fishers, Nick’s Riverside Grille, Cabanas and Sequoia also closed, and the parking garage was damaged.
The flood wall likely would have minimized damages, District officials said.
Piringer said he was not sure why the wall was down — it was up over most of the weekend, and is not the city government’s responsibility — but that it was corrected Monday afternoon.
Some officials believe that the flood wall may have been partially erected, but that the tallest, middle portion was not up.
Jim Bracco, executive director of the Georgetown Business Improvement District, called the flooding “an absolute tragedy.”
“We hope they can get this cleaned up as soon as possible, as we’re sure they will,” Bracco said.
Montgomery County emergency personnel rescued a woman Monday afternoon after her kayak overturned in the Potomac, and she clung to a partially submerged tree for about 30 minutes near Dickerson Conservation Park.
Near the same spot earlier Monday morning, Montgomery emergency personnel rescued 20 Boy Scouts and their adult chaperones shortly after dawn near White’s Ferry.
Fire officials rescued another four campers — who had sought dry land, but ended up waist-deep — at Marble Quarry Campground in Dickerson by boat around 4 a.m.
Across the river, Alexandria was faring well, city spokeswoman Jennifer Harris said. Flooding water forced a roadblock at the intersection of King and Union streets, but otherwise, no buildings were evacuated or closed.
“Everybody’s used to dealing with it,” said Harris, noting some debris had washed ashore.
