FINANCIAL DISTRICT, Manhattan (PIX11) -- Pace University is directly next to a parking garage that partially collapsed Tuesday afternoon in Lower Manhattan. Students were forced to evacuate, and all classes were canceled.

A lot of students are feeling freaked out. However, students and others on the upper levels of neighboring buildings could look out the window and see the parking garage destruction below them.

Students and staff of nearby Pace University frequently used the parking garage. As a result, some have lost their vehicles.

To make matters worse, one of the university dorms is located right next to the partially collapsed garage. On Tuesday night, all students were evacuated as officials worried about the building's safety and structural integrity.

Hundreds of Pace University students were temporarily displaced when a large section of a parking garage next to one of their dorms partially collapsed, killing one person and injuring others. Authorities decided the safest thing to do was completely evacuate the student housing building.

"This bag is all I have. My laptop, clothes, medication, everything I had to leave behind," one student said.

The college dorm is larger than the garage, but students said when the collapse happened, they felt the rumbling, the shaking and the power of thousands of tons of debris and vehicles crashing down. It was a shock when they ran outside and saw all this mess inside the garage.

A second university building was evacuated as well. Again, emergency responders quickly moved in and shut down the surrounding area to make way for fire trucks and ambulances.

The street closures brought business in the area to a standstill. Getting to dozens of restaurants, stores, and other nearby buildings was nearly impossible for hours.

Pace students said their thoughts are with the victims who were in the garage at the time of the collapse. Their thoughts are also on what comes next for them and their fellow students.

Pace University said they'd made accommodations for all of the displaced students. But, aside from that, the disaster also threw school classes, projects and exams into mass confusion.

All classes today were canceled, although it's unclear whether any classes will be online or in person on Wednesday. It's also unclear when students will be allowed to return to their dorm rooms.

As of Tuesday night, authorities are ensuring that whatever affected the parking garage has nothing to do with the dorm or other school buildings.