Unsuck DC Metro: Meet You Poolside at the Copa Vienna

Monday, August 22, 2011

Meet You Poolside at the Copa Vienna

My car has flooded bc the top of #wmata's parking deck at Vienna doesn't drain. twitpic.com/68nfjw / There's an inch or two of water in my car. #wmata twitpic.com/68nih4 twitpic.com/68nii2

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+25 Vote up Vote down

dcn8v · 709 weeks ago

That is unbelievable. I'm no structural engineer- what does the weight of this much water do to the structure of the garage? Is it safe? Sorry about your car.

8 replies · active 709 weeks ago

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Chuck · 709 weeks ago

I *am* an engineer, and that was the first thought that came to my mind, too!

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thebeltwayoutsider 35p · 709 weeks ago

Are you *really* an engineer?
If each parking space can support/hold a 5600lb car (Chevy Suburban for example) why shouldn't it be able to support 4650lbs of water? (assuming 1 foot of standing water @ 62lbs per CF, parking stall dimensions of 7.5x10)

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Chuck · 709 weeks ago

I didn't say I was a *good* engineer... :-)

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slb · 709 weeks ago

but can it hold a 5600lb car plus 4650lbs of water? In each spot? Plus water between all the spots?

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Rider · 709 weeks ago

I believe it! Why does anybody park and ride Metro? There is no planning and especially NO OVERSIGHT! This is a company to give minorities huge paychecks and their manager humongous paychecks. It is not about service or integrity.
Wake up !

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Ever Anonerly · 709 weeks ago

Wake up? Gonna give me a ride to work then so I, too, can avoid Metro? :)

+13 Vote up Vote down

Droidboy010101 · 709 weeks ago

Be honest, it's the "minorities" getting paychecks than burns you more than the service, isn't it?

And a flooded roof is either bad design or poor maintenance of drainage... not sure the ethnic makeup of the employees make a bloody difference here. Scalliwag!

+12 Vote up Vote down

John · 709 weeks ago

Most roof structures are supposed to be designed for rain and snow loads.

Now as to whether Metro's engineers did that... well... that could be a whole other story....

Was the entire deck flooded or just part of the deck? My guess would be a clogged inlet caused this. Most likely due to idiots using it as a garbage can. And metro not maintaining it.

+4 Vote up Vote down

UnSuck Fan · 709 weeks ago

This falls under "Acts of God" so WMATA will not respond.

P.S. Seriously though, sorry this happened to your car. Totally sucks!

4 replies · active 709 weeks ago

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varun · 709 weeks ago

Just a couple of days ago I said something about "water on a planet with gravity". I stand corrected. It appears that WMATA has NOT paid its gravity bill for the year. Because the mind boggles how that's even freaking possible otherwise.

+13 Vote up Vote down

lmnop · 709 weeks ago

Please don't let WMATA see this. Now they may actually charge riders a gravity fee for its unpaid gravity bill.

+18 Vote up Vote down

@VeggieTart · 709 weeks ago

Yes, the rain is an act of nature. Metro failing to ensure that structures under their control drain rainwater properly is an act of Metro.

Remember, while they can't control natural events, they certainly can control how they respond to them, how they prepare for them, and how they take steps to minimize how it affects the "customers".

+4 Vote up Vote down

UnSuck Fan · 709 weeks ago

Sorry, but my comment regarding "Acts of God" was supposed to be sarcastic. Who knows what WMATA would do to assist with this damage. Probably nothing other than perhaps express a small amount of sympathy.

+5 Vote up Vote down

nick · 709 weeks ago

shoot, good thing i moved and don't park at Vienna anymore... I used to park on top of that garage regularly. that SUCKS.

+7 Vote up Vote down

Matt G · 709 weeks ago

That is remarkable! Good thing Orange Line service wasn't disrupted for 3 hours because of the parking garage pumps that malfunctioned. ::sarcasm::

+16 Vote up Vote down

Matt · 709 weeks ago

There's no way this is safe. I don't think the weight is a problem, but there's no way this isn't corroding the shit out of the steel within that structure.

+11 Vote up Vote down

Radner · 709 weeks ago

What about the safety of the people trying to walk to their cars or trying to drive their cars out of the lot (if that would even be possible)? Metro should have never let you go up there with that much water, that is, if they even knew about it.

+22 Vote up Vote down

eed017 · 709 weeks ago

That is terrible about your car. I would be interested in knowing whether your insurance will cover the damage. i hope you email the pics to the local news channels. This should not be allowed to continue to happen, and Metro cannot be counted on to do the right thing unless the press calls attention to it.

1 reply · active 709 weeks ago

+8 Vote up Vote down

Sam · 709 weeks ago

Comprehensive should cover it. But his rates will increase. WMATA's insurance should be the one covering it.

+15 Vote up Vote down

anon · 709 weeks ago

I called Metro about this and was told they're taking a proactive approach starting today to investigate all the drains in all the parking lots.

hahahhahhahha

2 replies · active 709 weeks ago

+24 Vote up Vote down

@SchuminWeb · 709 weeks ago

The thing is, "proactive" would mean that no flooding had occurred, and drain inspections had occurring all along to prevent flooding from ever happening. This is a "reactive" approach, as something has flooded, and now they're inspecting all the drains as a reaction to the flooding in the north garage at Vienna.

+35 Vote up Vote down

VeteranRider · 709 weeks ago

Metro is being retroactively proactive. Metro Forward!

+1 Vote up Vote down

Meredith · 709 weeks ago

I'm trying to figure out if it's still actively raining in these pictures. Based on the sky and the water surface, it looks like it might be, indicating that it's possible the problem became even worse than this. This just isn't safe.

+3 Vote up Vote down

J.S. · 709 weeks ago

"Act of God?" WMATA fails to maintain the drains -> flooding. is it an AoG if it's due to negligence? If a building collapses because it wasn't built to code, is that an AoG?

3 replies · active 708 weeks ago

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Anon5 · 709 weeks ago

This is negligence, plain and simple.

1.WMATA had a duty to keep the parking garage in a usable (non-flooded) condition.

2.WMATA breached that duty.

3,4.WMATA's breach led to the damages to your vehicle, and absent WMATA's breach, your vehicle would not be damaged.

+3 Vote up Vote down

Sam · 709 weeks ago

They'll just slap a "We're not responsible for anything" disclaimer on it like most organizations do.

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Guest · 708 weeks ago

Just saying that doesn't make it true.

+1 Vote up Vote down

@SchuminWeb · 709 weeks ago

What I'd like to know is, how did the top level north garage at Vienna manage to flood this deeply in the first place? Wouldn't the ramps down to the other levels prevent this sort of flooding from ever happening in the first place because the water had an outlet to go down?

1 reply · active 709 weeks ago

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John · 709 weeks ago

If the entire roof was pitched toward that ramp, than yes. But it appears that wasn't the case. But then that could cause flooding problems in the lower level. And you wouldn't want to concentrate all the flow going towards the ramps, because that makes it difficult to get in/out of the garage.

+13 Vote up Vote down

guest · 709 weeks ago

How are people so sure this is water. My bet's on urine.

2 replies · active 709 weeks ago

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Turd Nuggets abound · 709 weeks ago

I woud have to agree... No public restrooms + an area with a high rate of alcoholism= Lots and lots of unrestrained urine... My question is who will clean up all of that Pee?? As WMATA demonstarted during the turd nucket crissis at the Vienna metro station recently, these things cannot be helped by them...

+8 Vote up Vote down

Droidboy010101 · 709 weeks ago

More like the Tears of the Gods crying upon WMATA

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steve · 709 weeks ago

How does water pool up on what looks like a second story parking ramp? Is there no drainage?

1 reply · active 709 weeks ago

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Matt G · 709 weeks ago

My sinuses have better drainage

+7 Vote up Vote down

Matt G · 709 weeks ago

Grab the fire axe and chop at the cement to create your own drain

-9 Vote up Vote down

photoshopper · 709 weeks ago

nice photoshop ;)

+14 Vote up Vote down

Anony Mouse · 709 weeks ago

You want drainage in the Metro parking garage?! Apparently, you beieve in slavery.

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· 709 weeks ago

More of our money (not) down the drain thanks to negligence.

+6 Vote up Vote down

WHO · 709 weeks ago

WMATA stands for we meet and talk all day. doing nothing so that we can get promotion, of course, with a 200 k annual salary.

Why would the Governments subsidize such an organozation