Repairs continue after water main break floods Detroit neighborhood street
(CBS DETROIT) - Work to repair a water main that turned a street on Detroit's west side into a frozen river continued Tuesday.
Several water main breaks were reported throughout the city on Monday, but the flooding on Vaughn Street near Constance was by far the worst.
Homeowners say it's that area of the city that is often plagued by flooding problems.
"It has flooded before, but nothing like this. It was hard with the kids because the kids have to walk in this mess," Ashley Hampton said.
Hampton and her two kids have had difficulty getting in and out of their house over the last few days. Luckily, she can depend on her neighbor for help.
"I don't wish this on nobody. Single mother, elderly. If I have to help, I don't mind," said Vince Palmer.
At its deepest point, about a foot of water covered Vaughn Street and spanned two blocks, enough to trap vehicles in their path.
An equipment failure on Monday forced work to shut down earlier than expected.
"We had a pump that failed yesterday evening, so just because of the frigid temperatures," said Bryan Peckinpaugh, spokesperson for the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD).
They got a replacement that will be pumping water into the sewer until the street is clear.
"We're making sure that the pumping crew is set up so that they can focus on that single area where the break is occurring," Peckinpaugh said.
While this water main break was caused by the extreme cold putting tension on a pipe and cracking it, residents say Vaughn Street also floods during heavy rainfall.
"The city has been out twice, and it seems like they did something on the side street, clear it out before maybe a year. But once again, it's more like this than not," Palmer said.
The city says it's working on a solution.
"We're going to have our engineers take a look at the sewer system, which is separate from the water system. Take a look at that and see what is causing the constant flooding that they're experiencing on this particular street, unrelated to the water main break," Peckinpaugh said.
Crews are now working on repairing the water main. DWSD says it doesn't have a timeline for when the water will be restored, but it will continue to update the residents throughout the day.
