Broken water main floods street
Water main break floods streets near downtown Orlando
A water main break has shut down Summerlin Avenue between Concord and Amelia streets near downtown Orlando, according to police.
A water main break Monday afternoon wreaked havoc on a neighborhood just east of downtown Orlando, causing flooding to homes and cars and backyards to submerge in water.
As the water receded, a large crater was in the middle of the road with muck all around. Orlando Utilities Commission crews brought it bulldozers and pumps to clear the water and fix the problem.
Police shut down Summerlin Avenue between Concord and Amelia streets in the area of the Lake Eola Heights neighborhood.
“It was like a river flowing southbound on Summerlin,” said neighbor Poppy Mackenzie. “It was a pretty strong current, too.”
OUC Spokesman Tim Trudell said the lines are among the oldest in the city. Nearly 15 homes were affected, with either no water or limited access. Those homes were under a precautionary boil water notice. It’s not clear what caused the 20-inch pipe to break.
“This is one of the original parts of Orlando so that’s an issue for us,” he said. “We have a muddy mess that we need to work through.”
Walt Reid said the apartments Concord Street that he owns were flooded with about two feet of water. The water receded quickly, he said.
“That’s a lot of water,” he said. “It looked like it poured.”
Neighbor Tim Meyer told Orlando Sentinel news partner Fox 35 he was home and received knock on the door.
“My neighbor knocked on the door and she said ‘hey your car is about to flood,’” he said. “So I went out and took care of it. It came up really quickly after that.”
One man posted a video on Twitter, which showed a flooded parking lot with the water creeping above the bumpers of multiple cars and the tops of air-conditioning units. Water came up to the trunk of another car.
Neighbor Jay Jackson said he was at a movie when a neighbor texted him about the break. Luckily, his house is up on a ledge so no water got into his home, something his neighbors across the street could not say.
“I’m glad it’s over there and not over here,” he said.
The line could be repaired by Monday night and the road could be open by Tuesday or Wednesday, OUC said.