Water, Water Everywhere

By Shari Einhorn

You've probably heard stories about this before...a water main breaks under some street in some town and the road is flooded.

If it's never happened to you...you just can't understand what it's like.                                   

Residents on this street know what it's like!  This is Saddle Ridge Road in Woodmere...and that's someone's car about to get sucked into the sinkhole! 

Long Island American Water, a private company, owns and operates the water main under the road which is maintained by the Town of Hempstead. 

The pipe burst around 9:45 Tuesday night -- spilling water along the tree-lined residential street.

                                        

I'm told about 26 homes were affected when the water and power were turned off.  Some families chose to stay down the block with neighbors.  LIPA crews came to shut off the electricity because the tree you see in the top picture was leaning against live power lines...then town crews came to cut down the tree and the water company spent the rest of the night and morning cleaning up the water and fixing the road.

The bigger problem for residents -- cleaning up their garages and basements.  Water seeped into several of the homes and homeowners told me they had already contacted their insurance companies.  Think about everything you store in your garage and basement...what would happen if a water main burst on your street?

Thanks to Michael Hymowitz for sharing his pictures with us!