Woman Rescued After Buildings Collapse During Storm In Poughkeepsie

A woman who had been trapped for several hours was pulled from the rubble by rescuers Monday night after a building collapsed onto two others in Poughkeepsie.

Photo Credit: Jason Brodbeck

Downtown Poughkeepsie has been closed to all traffic following the collapse of two buildings.
Photo Credit: *Jason Brodbeck*

A look at the site of the building collapses in Poughkeepsie.
Photo Credit: *Donald Miller*

The building collapses led to the closure of many downtown streets in Poughkeepsie.
Photo Credit: *Donald Miller*

Joe Lombardi

06/19/2018 7:47 a.m.

Rotanya Hargrove was alert and conscious when she was rescued at about 8 p.m., nearly four hours after a vacant, seven-story building collapsed onto two other buildings during a severe thunderstorm with gusty winds.

Hargrove, 43, suffered non-life threatening injuries.

During the collapse at around 4:15 p.m., the larger building at 19 Academy St., fell onto another building at 17 Academy St., and then onto a smaller three-story building at 15 Academy St., causing it to collapse as well, Det. Sgt. Sean Fitzgerald.

A video of the rescue can be viewed here.

Much of downtown Poughkeepsie was closed to traffic during the search-and-rescue operation.

The buildings, located at the corner of Academy and Cannon streets, collapsed around 4:15 p.m. Monday shortly after a severe thunderstorm passed through.

The City of Poughkeepsie Police assisted the Poughkeepsie Fire Department in its response.

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