Hollywood boil water advisory lifted after water main break

HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - Officials have lifted a precautionary boil water advisory for all of Hollywood, two days after a water main break.

The large rupture occurred on Johnson Street near 19th Avenue, just before 9 a.m., Friday.

As a result of the break, the City of Hollywood advised all residents and businesses to boil their water for drinking purposes.

Video taken shortly after the break shows a flooded street and cars driving through standing water.

A photo taken by Hollywood Police shows a garbage truck that actually got stuck in the hole from the break.

“I looked out, and all of a sudden I see this garbage truck is sinking into the ground, and water is pouring into the street,” said a witness.

Local businesses were also impacted by the boil water notice.

Whiskey Tango Manager Rick Ingle said the bar and restaurant cannot use the fountain system because of the water lines, and staffers had to buy soda, juice and ice.

“To last minute have to go out to purchase all these things, to keep the place open and safe for the customer, it puts everybody under the gun,” said Ingle.

One customer had just learned about the water notice, Friday night.

“I didn’t know. I was at a restaurant earlier that had water, so now I’m wondering, ‘Am I gonna make to work tomorrow?'” he said as he laughed.

Among those affected by the boil water notice were employees at a Joe’s Old School Pizza in Hollywood, which becomes busy during lunchtime.

“The lunch crowd is fast, but it’s all fast. It’s all slices of pizza and everything that goes out real quick,” said employee Nelson Oquendo.

The shop is less than a block away from the break, and employees must boil water in order to keep the pizzas coming.

“Every business needs to have a contingency plan, and, with us, it’s definitely water,” said the shop’s owner, Joe Caristo. “We have to make sure we have palatable water for these guys, Purell for them to wash their hands with, you know, disinfect their hands, and water to cook with.”

The owner of the shop said the extra water they had left over from Hurricane Irma allowed his employees ensure that their food was safe for consumption.

“Before the hurricane, we bought a ton of bottled water – jugs,” said Joe Caristo. “With the boil water in effect, we can make the dough and everything with the bottled spring water instead of having to go through the whole process. These guys have been through hurricanes, floods, everything else here, so they know what they’re doing.”

A few hours later, another watery mess surfaced in Fort Lauderdale at the corner of Andrews Avenue and Broward Boulevard.

The base of a fire hydrant cracked as crews worked to install a traffic signal. The gushing water weakened the ground below the existing traffic light, causing a mess for commuters.

A boil water notice was not issued for Fort Lauderdale.

Parts of Johnson Street and 19th Avenue remained blocked off, Sunday, while crews continued to work to fix the rupture.

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