BOSTON (CBS) – A massive water main break on Beacon Hill flooded part of the neighborhood and left a sinkhole on one street early Tuesday morning.
Tom Bagley, a Boston Water and Sewer Commission spokesman, said a contractor working for them was replacing a water main at Myrtle and Hancock streets when he broke a gate valve at 12:30 a.m.
“A gate to that water main broke,” Bagley said. “It caused a lot of damage on the roadway, in the bricks, on the street.”
Bagley told reporters the contractor thought the gate valve was shut off for the replacement work, but it wasn’t and water started pouring down Hancock Street onto Cambridge Street.
“It was cascading down the street really, really fast and it looked like Niagara Falls,” Bagley said.
“Companies arrived, found a lot of water traveling down Hancock Street and Joy (Street), they went unit-to-unit, checked to make sure that the occupants were safe,” Deputy Fire Chief James Greene told reporters.
“We sheltered in place for the most part, moved people to high ground, we really didn’t have to move people out of their buildings. But certainly, there’s some inconvenience and people that have some cleanup to do.”
Water rushes down Hancock Street early Tuesday morning. (WBZ-TV)
The water was shut off and catch basins caught all of the water, but it left a large sinkhole on Hancock Street. Bagley believed the road could be repaired by Tuesday afternoon.
“These things happen. When you work in a close proximity to pipes that have a lot of pounds per square inch pressure in them and all you need is a little slip of a nut or something like that, that’s what could happen,” Bagley said.
Water rushes down Hancock Street early Tuesday morning. (WBZ-TV)
Eversource and National Grid are checking to make sure there’s no electrical hazards.
Water rushes down Hancock Street early Tuesday morning. (WBZ-TV)
Building inspectors will also take a closer look at homes in the neighborhood during the day Tuesday.
“We apologize to the residents in the area, this is unfortunate,” Bagley said. “We’ll get this cleaned up as soon as possible.”
Residents told WBZ-TV it was hard to act fast enough, as many faced an uphill battle with water rushing down like rapids.
“My husband tried to stop the water from coming in our doorway, because we live on the first level, and we couldn’t stop it. It was just gushing,” said one Beacon Hill resident.
Ashley Ott, another Beacon Hill resident, said her storage items were affected by the water.
“A lot of the storage material, and then a lot of the stuff that was knocked to the floor, is completely soaked,” said Ott.
Residents are being told to call Boston Water and Sewer directly to file a claim if they are experiencing any issues due to the water main break.
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September 21, 2021 at 11:23PM
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‘It Looked Like Niagara Falls,’ Massive Water Main Break Floods Part Of Beacon Hill - CBS Boston
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