After 103 years of dutifully transporting water through the Bronx, a 36-inch iron water main, which was installed underground in 1903, decided to abruptly retire this morning — by which we mean it exploded, flooding Jerome Avenue and causing mayhem for its residents. The Daily News reports:
“I didn’t have a choice but to start wading in the water. I was shocked,” said 61-year-old Paul English, who walked through calf-high water to get out of his house.
Residents at Susan’s Place, a homeless shelter for women on Jerome Ave., were evacuated when water began coming into the building.
“We had to rush out,” said one resident. “It was coming through the lobby. It was coming through the rooms. … It was like a river.”
Some locals, understandably, were under the impression than an earthquake had struck:
It wasn’t a disaster for everyone, though. One local amateur cameraman suggested that he might “swim in this shit.”
And here’s some more footage from the AP:
Bronx water main break floods streets, snarls traffic [NYDN]
