Sunday, September 13, 2015

Just ontime for the Pope visit, broken water main floods North Philadelphia block, road caves in







Cleanup is underway after a water main ruptured at West Hunting Park Avenue and Westmoreland Street.






Updated 7 mins ago

NORTH PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia Water Department crews are assessing the damage caused by a broken 48-inch water main in North Philadelphia.

The break occurred around 8:00 p.m. Saturday on Hunting Park Avenue near Westmoreland Street.

Philadelphia Water Department spokesperson John DiGiulio tells Action News approximately 15 million gallons of water spilled onto the streets and into properties before crews could arrive and shut off the main around 9:45 p.m.

Police blocked off part of the road due to the high water, but not before a car became partially submerged.

PWD crews are working to restore water to customers by rerouting water.

They will be on scene Sunday to assess damage caused by the break.

"Once our cleanup efforts are done on Hunting Park, we'll begin assessing the damage to the water main and working to excavate to get a visual on it," DiGiulio said.

The break caused Hunting Park to be closed between 29th Street and Fox Street as part of the roadway caved in.





The break occurred blocks away from where a 48-inch water main broke at a shopping plaza at Fox Street and Roberts Avenue back in June.

During that break, the fire department evacuated people from affected businesses, which included Planet Fitness, Hair Buzz, Dollar General, ShopRite and Ross.

Photos from the scene showed Philadelphia firefighters rescuing several people.









Firefighters evacuated stores afer a 48-inch water main ruptured in Philadelphia on June 18, 2015.

Back in January 2014, another main ruptured in the area, damaging multiple stores. That break took four months to repair.