Heartbreaking situation at District Dogs - flooding on Rhode Island ave

[Anonymous]

I just saw an interview with an owner who thought his dog was caged when the flooding began.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just saw an interview with an owner who thought his dog was caged when the flooding began.

Honestly, that makes more sense. I can see how it would be difficult to get every dog if they were caged.

Heartbreaking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is on the Mayor - just like the crime wave in DC.

The executive branch of the District of Columbia should have addressed this manifestly unsafe flooding situation long ago. And given their failure to do so, they should not have allowed this and other businesses to operate in an unsafe area.

This is a heartbreaking situation, and a heartbreaking failure by Mayor Bowser.

The mayor and DC Water have yet to make a statement or acknowledge the situation, no?

[Anonymous]

The mayor answered some questions but she seems to think this was just a fluke, and had somebody talk to the crowd about global warming, etc. I don't deny global warming of course but there's more to this story, and bits of blame in all directions:

FEMA: their flood map for this area was last updated in 2010, stating minimal flood risk despite years of history of flooding at this spot.

DCRA (now DOB) didn't question the FEMA map when signing off on the plans, despite ample evidence of past flooding.

Anti-development activist Chris Otten singlehandedly tied up every single DC planned unit development (PUD) in court for years (or for payoffs) which forced some developers like this one to abandon the PUD, and just build as-of-right, preventing any meaningful scrutiny (or community benefit.)

Developer MRP used every square foot to make up for the fact that building as-of-right restricted allowable sq. ft of development. A storefront facing Rhode Island Ave looked great and improved the pedestrian experience...but

The designers, in particular the civil engineer changed what had been a gradually sloping curved drive down to the Avenue, into a straight shot, dumping stormwater right down into the Avenue, without any of the previous measures to absorb or slow that water from the rest of the development. At the very least, that wall facing Rhode Island Avenue should have included a masonry kneewall as a sensible precaution, instead of a glass storefront. Did they visit the site or take a look at the contour map?

DC Water: after last year's repeated flooding, the completion of the NE Boundary tunnel was to have been completed by March earlier this year. It wasn't. And while they say they inspected the storm sewers, as the owner begged them to do before the storm, did they?

District Dogs' owner: while perhaps relying on DC Water's expected tunnel completion, he didn't terminate his lease but apparently put in some measures he thought would alleviate the problem, not expecting the rising water to exceed last years height. It exceeded it by a lot. Neither he nor the staff are trained to handle this kind of thing and he had assurances from multiple sources that things were under control. Still, an abundance of caution would have been to gather the dogs on higher ground.

Fire/EMS: Were they quick enough on scene? Someone will find out. But the call may have sounded less urgent before the wall crashed in, and once it did, it would have been hard to call 911 while swimming for survival.

The staff: are you kidding me? Heroes. Thank heavens they are safe.

[Anonymous]

What was the owner thinking? Worth the risk with no apparent bad weather plan in place or changes made inside after the flooding last year when he decided to stay one? And where was the city in it’s oversight? Reckless and irresponsible. Those poor dogs and employees that sound so devoted. Awful.

[Anonymous]

Where was the staff

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is on the Mayor - just like the crime wave in DC.

The executive branch of the District of Columbia should have addressed this manifestly unsafe flooding situation long ago. And given their failure to do so, they should not have allowed this and other businesses to operate in an unsafe area.

This is a heartbreaking situation, and a heartbreaking failure by Mayor Bowser.

The owner and the workers knew. Happened several times a year ago. But breaking a lease or closing because you can’t safely operate a business is too expensive, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The mayor answered some questions but she seems to think this was just a fluke, and had somebody talk to the crowd about global warming, etc. I don't deny global warming of course but there's more to this story, and bits of blame in all directions:

FEMA: their flood map for this area was last updated in 2010, stating minimal flood risk despite years of history of flooding at this spot.

DCRA (now DOB) didn't question the FEMA map when signing off on the plans, despite ample evidence of past flooding.

Anti-development activist Chris Otten singlehandedly tied up every single DC planned unit development (PUD) in court for years (or for payoffs) which forced some developers like this one to abandon the PUD, and just build as-of-right, preventing any meaningful scrutiny (or community benefit.)

Developer MRP used every square foot to make up for the fact that building as-of-right restricted allowable sq. ft of development. A storefront facing Rhode Island Ave looked great and improved the pedestrian experience...but

The designers, in particular the civil engineer changed what had been a gradually sloping curved drive down to the Avenue, into a straight shot, dumping stormwater right down into the Avenue, without any of the previous measures to absorb or slow that water from the rest of the development. At the very least, that wall facing Rhode Island Avenue should have included a masonry kneewall as a sensible precaution, instead of a glass storefront. Did they visit the site or take a look at the contour map?

DC Water: after last year's repeated flooding, the completion of the NE Boundary tunnel was to have been completed by March earlier this year. It wasn't. And while they say they inspected the storm sewers, as the owner begged them to do before the storm, did they?

District Dogs' owner: while perhaps relying on DC Water's expected tunnel completion, he didn't terminate his lease but apparently put in some measures he thought would alleviate the problem, not expecting the rising water to exceed last years height. It exceeded it by a lot. Neither he nor the staff are trained to handle this kind of thing and he had assurances from multiple sources that things were under control. Still, an abundance of caution would have been to gather the dogs on higher ground.

Fire/EMS: Were they quick enough on scene? Someone will find out. But the call may have sounded less urgent before the wall crashed in, and once it did, it would have been hard to call 911 while swimming for survival.

The staff: are you kidding me? Heroes. Thank heavens they are safe.

Wow, so much of this is egregious. I just keep thinking what if this had been a daycare full of young children? I’m a huge pet lover and am horrified this happened to dogs FWIW. Just pointing out that the city could have potentially approved this building and allowed a childcare center to open. Are there any other buildings that are at risk of something like this happening?

[Anonymous]

It’s like people who buy homes on the coast, sustain hurricane damage, rebuild, and are shocked, SHOCKED when it happens again.

The owner and staff get a pass for the first event.

Not this one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s like people who buy homes on the coast, sustain hurricane damage, rebuild, and are shocked, SHOCKED when it happens again.

The owner and staff get a pass for the first event.

Not this one.

Not apologizing for the owner but do you get that last year's floods were knee height at most, with just some water on the floor, while this year was 5-6 feet of water and a crashing down wall?

The owner is easy to blame but it doesn't give a pass to all the people that contributed to create this tragedy.

[Anonymous]

True, but the owner was the person who decided to stay and provide a service caging lots of dogs in a flood prone area. Why take the risk? Why? It’s irresponsible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What was the owner thinking? Worth the risk with no apparent bad weather plan in place or changes made inside after the flooding last year when he decided to stay one? And where was the city in it’s oversight? Reckless and irresponsible. Those poor dogs and employees that sound so devoted. Awful.

They put in a flood barrier so clearly it was a known issue. They should have broke the lease and moved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What was the owner thinking? Worth the risk with no apparent bad weather plan in place or changes made inside after the flooding last year when he decided to stay one? And where was the city in it’s oversight? Reckless and irresponsible. Those poor dogs and employees that sound so devoted. Awful.

They put in a flood barrier so clearly it was a known issue. They should have broke the lease and moved.

Have you ever tried breaking a lease?

[Anonymous]

Depending on how the developer convinced the Owner not to break the lease last year, I hope they pay his legal bills now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:True, but the owner was the person who decided to stay and provide a service caging lots of dogs in a flood prone area. Why take the risk? Why? It’s irresponsible.

There's an owner who lost a dog on Popville calling out the owner. It's likely he may not be able to say much due to a (likely, in my opinion) lawsuit, but they sound...not great.

https://www.popville.com/2023/08/crowdsourcing-local-resources-for-people-like-us-suffering-the-trauma-of-unexpectedly-losing-our-furry-family-members/

"I’m OP and I’d like to make it clear that despite this message from district dogs included here, the owners of the dogs that died in their custody are being stonewalled by the business. He has not responded to any of our repeated attempts to get answers. His only communication with us was a call to tell us that our dog was dead, and an email telling us where to pick up the body.

To the point they keep making about how this all happened within minutes, I’d like to point out that there was a flash flood warning we’ll ahead of this, not minutes.

I’d also like to add that for those that are sending their condolences, it would mean so much to my wife and me if you made a donation to Lucky Dog, the local adoption agency where we got our rescue Malee."