Fire Spokesman: Georgetown Flooding 'Could Have Been Prevented' By Floodwall

Water reaches 10 feet high in some places along the waterfront, submerging some of the vehicles that were parked in the parking garages. Dozens evacuated earlier Monday.

The flood wall was not up to stop the water. Pete Piringer, spokesperson for the D.C. Fire Department, says the reason for that "remains to be seen." But he says the Fire Department crew was "quite surprised" when they arrived on the scene and found that the flood wall was not up.

Piringer says the Fire Department brought in some additional resources and helped property management to put up the wall, which he says was done by about noon. He says they're reassessing the situation, noting that there was also flooding in nearby buildings.

"I think the wall being up would have prevented this from happening," he says. "There was a coastal flood warning in place, so there was some moderate flooding, but certainly [it] could have been prevented."

Piringer says it's the job of the property manager, not the government, to make sure the floodwall is up if there is a coastal flood warning or other signs that there may be flooding.

The property manager for Washington Harbor, MRP Real Estate Services, says in a statement that it is working to mitigate further damage.