Some neighbors were still without power Monday night after a building collapsed in Northeast D.C. over the weekend. An inspector also issued a stop work order after determining that the trash and construction debris left behind pose a potential life and safety hazard.
Valerie Woods is grateful that debris from the building didn’t fall on her home Sunday night on the 3000 block of 20th Street Northeast.
“It’s very overwhelming,” Woods said. “I feel blessed that nothing happened to us.”
She said she felt fortunate to be alive after strong wind gusts caused the three-story structure under construction to collapse in the Langdon neighborhood, near Langdon Park.
The fall made a loud “boom, and then afterwards we heard a crack like a whip,” Woods said, sending debris all over the place and onto the street, damaging two cars.
Power lines were also brought down in the collapse, and Pepco was called to the scene to secure the lines. Woods has power now thanks to her solar panels, but her neighbors aren’t so lucky.
Just feet away from her home, the D.C. Fire and EMS Rescue Squad searched with a canine in the rubble. There is no evidence anyone was trapped, but three adults and three children had to be evacuated.
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We have reached out to the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) to find out who owns the property and are waiting for officials to respond.
Meanwhile, the exact cause of the collapse is under investigation.
“Just blessed no one got hurt,” Woods said.
