HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - A water main break has caused street-level flooding in Hollywood.
Contractors were in the area of Washington Street between 19th and 20th avenues when they hit the water main, causing it to rupture, Wednesday morning.
7Skyforce hovered above the scene as water spread through the street.
“Contractors working in the area apparently nicked the line there and it ruptured. You can see the line of damage it has caused,” said 7Skyforce’s Ralph Rayburn.
One of the contractors accidentally drilled through a water main line, causing it to break.
“I only heard the sound of heavy water,” said area resident Beth McCausey.
“I just heard a large stream of water,” said area resident Hendrikus Wynberg. “It started off as just a trickle coming out of the asphalt there, and then it gradually grew larger and larger, until one point it just flooded the whole street. It looked like a little river running down there.”
Crews responded quickly and were able to find the valves to turn the water off.
“They just found the valve that turns this water off,” said Rayburn.
“Our City of Hollywood utility crews responded very quickly to the scene,” said City of Hollywood spokesperson Joann Hussey. “They isolated the area and now are working to make the repairs.”
Hussey told 7News the telecommunication contractors were drilling east to west and too high when they hit the water main.
At around 3:30 p.m., customers in the area were given full access to water.
“I don’t think we got interrupted at all, to tell you the truth,” said Wynberg. “It was fairly quickly isolated, and I think they may have shut it off farther out, and once they found the valve here, they shut those off. I think they opened up the other ones, I think. We never really lost any water.”
Residents were happy they still had access to water, and there was no fallout from the accident. They said they only faced minor inconveniences.
“Because the pipe is new and crews responded very quickly, they were able to reroute water service pretty quickly, so there is no need for a boil water,” said Hussey.
Hollywood Police were also on the scene to direct traffic away from the area.
The break has caused a large hole in the roadway.
As of Thursday, crews managed to install a temporary fix to get water flowing again to homes
A permanent fix, along with road repairs, could take a few days.
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