SAN DIEGO — A water main broke on Tuesday morning near a North Park intersection and sent water gushing onto surrounding streets for more than two hours, authorities said. Dozens of homes were left without water service following the break but a city engineer said service was fully restored as of 6 p.m. Tuesday night. San Diego Public Works crews remained on scene to to fill the hole where the main break occurred.
The rupture of the 30-inch cast-iron transmission main was reported around 6 a.m. near the intersection of Ray and Capps streets, San Diego city spokesman Scott Robinson said.
"There is a large volume of water being pushed through there," Robinson said.
Water rushed to adjacent streets in a five-block area before the leak was capped by 8:10 a.m., Robinson said.
News 8's Neda Iranpour captured video of 6-year-old Ezekiel Schmitt's father carrying him through a pool of water during the flooding.
Several residents said the water had at least partially flooded their homes and they wondered why it wasn't shut off faster.
"It's a large main so, it takes a while to not only locate the valve, [then] you have to slowly shut it down," Robinson said.
He said shutting the water off too quickly can sometimes lead to more damage.
The streets themselves brought a new set of concerns as crews secured the area out of fear of a possible sinkhole opening up.
"The stability of the ground changes as soon as the water main breaks so we've secured the area to do repairs [and] make sure it's safe," said Robinson.
Estimates regarding the number of properties flooded and the number of residents without water service were not available.
To allow for cleanup and repairs, police shut down sections of Capps, Dwight and Ray streets, along with stretches of Grim and Myrtle avenues.
Traffic lanes around the site of the main break remained closed in the late afternoon, according to Robinson, who said it was unknown when they would reopen.
Crews said they hope to have roads completely patched up and open by Wednesday.
This was the 37th water main break to occur in the city this year, according to Robinson. There were a total of 61 in 2018, he said.