South Philadelphia streets flooded after water main break in Grays Ferry, officials say
On Saturday, emergency crews returned to work on a water main that broke and flooded streets in South Philadelphia's Grays Ferry section Friday night.
Officials said crews responded to the water main break at around 7:20 p.m. on Friday in the area of 28th and Dickinson Streets. CBS News Philadelphia was on the scene where water was gushing throughout the streets.
"I actually didn't see the water main break," said resident Dawn Tresoikas. "Someone said 'Hey, there's a lot of water on the street."
"I had a waterfront property for a few hours," Michelle Smolka, who lives in the area, said.
Residents told CBS News Philadelphia they were without water for an hour or two when the Philadelphia Water Department came to shut off the valve to stop the water from gushing into the street any more Friday night. Water has since been restored.
Neighbors say they also witnessed the road starting to sink because of the break and neighbors quickly moved their cars just in case the road caved.
PWD said they shut down a leaking 16-inch main and 28th Street was closed while repairs were scheduled. It's unclear how long it will take to repair the water main and the road. Streets were dried out by early Saturday morning.
"Yesterday, it was a shock because it didn't give us an inkling that anything was about to burst," said Sherrell McNeal, a resident in the area.
McNeal said she would know because this wasn't the first time a water main break happened on this street.
"This is the second time this actually happened on this block," she said. "I think the first time was about 5-6 years ago."
Neighbors say they're hoping the street is fixed sooner rather than later but they're also happy it wasn't worse.
"There's a lot of people that work here and a lot of older folks here," said neighbor Emily Montenez. "We definitely need it fixed."
