Water Main Break Swamps Cars In Queens: 'The Water Just Went Up And Up And Up'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A water main break caused major street flooding in Queens Friday, leaving cars underwater.
Crews are on the scene making repairs.
As CBS2's Dave Carlin reports, to move a massive amount of water out, crews pumped and frantically cleared catch basins. Now the muddy mess remains for several blocks of 210th Street.
Chopper 2 was overhead for the most anxious moments of Friday afternoon along the Oakland Gardens street, with water so deep yards were like islands and more than a dozen cars were swamped.
"All of a sudden the water just went up and up and up," said Oakland Gardens resident Sharon Castellano.
From the street, one could see cars that would require towing, and draining. Only the top of a fire hydrant was visible at 210th Street near 67th Avenue. Steps away is Cory Chan's home, where filthy water invaded his basement.
"The water come in from there," Chan told Carlin. "I used a plastic bag and blocked the window... I'm just cleaning right now."
Many other homes were on high enough foundations to avoid flooding. The scramble early on was to get cars away.
"Our neighbor actually knocked on our door and told us there's a flood, so we have to move our car back to the driveway," said Vicki Hou.
"I'm so grateful I was home to move the cars," said Lesley Troyanos.
"I'm stranded right now. I called the kids' taekwondo master and let them know there's no way to get out," said Sharon Castellano.
It was a 12 inch pipe that broke. Clean up and repairs are expected to last through the night.
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