Business Owners Describe 'War Zone' After Center City Water Main Break
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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A massive water main break in Center City sent millions of gallons of water gushing into the streets early Tuesday morning. Most of the water has receded, leaving a huge muddy mess behind.
The 48-inch water main break happened at Juniper and Sansom Streets, around 4 a.m. on Tuesday.
An official with the city's Water Department said Tuesday night that he expects the intersection of Juniper and Samson Street will be closed for a few months.
Crews know where the broken main is but so far have not seen it because of debris.
Philadelphia Water Department Commissioner Debra McCarty says about 14 to 15 million gallons of water gushed onto the streets, the equivalent of 25 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
ROAD CLOSURES
The water main break, built in the 1920's, caused a mess for nearby businesses, flooding basements and causing a gridlock in the area. It currently has shut down Sansom Street from Broad to 13th, Juniper Street from Chestnut to Walnut, 13th from Locust to Chestnut, 12th from Chestnut to Locust and Walnut from 11th to Broad Street.
"I started getting text messages around 6 a.m. from friends saying, 'Sorry to hear about your business' and I had no idea what was going on, so I ran downstairs and turned the news on and that's when I saw the main had broken," said Kurt Darhower, owner of Salon Ricochet.
Kurt says his insurance should cover damage and he's already has plans to keep his business running.
"I've already had a couple of friends who own salons reach out to me to let me know if I need space that I can go and work out of their spaces," said Darhower.
"We feel extremely fortunate. We were an inch away from being completely flooded and devastated," said Christopher Mullins, owner of McGillin's Olde Ale House.
Mullins says he's grateful his business was spared.
"When you see the war zone around us, it's not pretty. The damage is unreal. We can't even begin to imagine what it's done to the buildings," Mullins said.
TRANSPORTATION
The water main break is also impacting public transportation in the area. SEPTA bus routes 9, 12, 21, 23, 42, and 45 have been detoured. PATCO service was not affected.
PECO says about 700 customers were impacted due to the water main break.
Officials say crews will have to remove the water to find out what caused the break, start excavating the entire area and then only can they reopen the intersection. A tent will be set up to help customers on Thursday.
"On Thursday... Public affairs staff and our customer field service staff will have a presence on site. We'll put a tent up on 13th and Sansom and any customers we didn't have a chance to meet today or any customers that have questions about what's going on," said John DiGiulio with the Philadelphia Water Department. "We'll be there from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to address those issues."
"I'm going to imagine, the intersection here will be shut down at least until repairs are made. There is no timetable on that right now," said DiGiulio. "We will have crews, we will have a presence. We will be here all throughout the day, likely tomorrow at least in the cleanup phase."
Officials tell CBS3 it could months to clean up the area completely.
