NEW YORK -- Hundreds of people in Long Island City are without water after a major water main break.
The water came gushing out of a city pipe, turning a road into a river and partially submerging many parked vehicles.
As CBS2's John Dias reports, this isn't the first time it's happened. The old saying, "Lightning never strikes the same place twice," now seems like a myth for those living there.
Dirty water spewed from the ground, looking like water boiling out of a pot. But Alex Saez told Dias it's his blood that's boiling with rage.
"The water was up, close to 3 feet of water in here," Saez said.
The major water main break flooded Vernon Boulevard for two hours early Tuesday morning, ruining Saez's SUV and many other vehicles.
What makes matters even worse is neighbors say this is the second time the same pipe burst, and the second vehicle Saez lost.
"I'm still waiting, still waiting to hear back from the city. I'm still waiting to hear back," he told Dias.
It was January 2021 when the first water main broke. The water was colder than, but the damage was about the same. The anger, though, now more severe.
"The city has to respond, because this is ridiculous," resident Stephanie Vargas said.
Rhonda Barnaby had to replace her car after the first break. Then on this Memorial Day, a drunk driver crashed into her car, so she was driving a rental -- which is now also ruined.
"Now I have to pay for the rental car," she said. "I thought it was safe down there. I didn't think it was going to break again."
As crews spent the day repairing the break and figuring out what went wrong, residents spent it assessing the damage.
"Come downstairs and find water all the way up to my window. Four feet of water, even more," one resident said.
Once the water receded, he found his child's shoe in a pool of water. He said most of the people impacted live in NYCHA's Queensbridge South Houses.
"You guys really need to fix these issues, because there are folks that live here and we are people just like everyone else," he said.
Last year when this happened, residents said they went for more than 24 hours without water.
CBS2 has reached out to the city's Department of Environmental Protections for more clarity on what when wrong. We're still waiting to hear back on their updates.
Officials: Watermain repairs complete
Many questions remain as repairs continue on watermain break
It was a rude awakening for residents of the Queensbridge South Houses. Cars were ruined, there was no water to wash with, and, sadly, the same thing happened last year, CBS2's Vanessa Murdock reported.
Water gushed out of the ground, filling Vernon Boulevard just south of the Queensboro Bridge before daybreak. A busted water pipe left cars submerged to the handles and floated garbage down the boulevard. Hours later, mud ankle deep filled the street as Department of Environmental Protection crews removed entire slabs of concrete to get a better handle on the source that kept spewing.
Ronald Ragbir of Long Island City said he was speechless when he saw the damage.
"Neighbor woke me up 3 in the morning, had to throw on my clothes, come downstairs and find water all the way up to my window. The water is inside my car up to halfway to my seat," Ragbir said. "There's still a pool of water inside my vehicle."
Ragbir's car was ruined, as were so many others.
Alex Saez said he found his car filled, too.
"The car got flooded all the way up to the seat," Saez said.
He added this wasn't the first time a watermain break ruined his ride, claiming the same watermain broke in January of 2021.
"Put a claim in, still never heard back from the comptroller about it," Saez said.
This time around, he said he's "definitely going to try again, have to."
Stephanie Vargas said water has been shut off since Tuesday morning.
"No water to wash your face, to cook, to take a shower, brush your teeth," Vargas said.
The DEP did set up Water on the Go fountains for residents of Queensbridge South Houses to grab and go. Eddie Taylor filled up.
"Make coffee first thing when I get up, man, and there's no water coming out," Taylor lamented.
At around 2 p.m., the new main rolled up. Still, so many questions remain: When will the fix be complete? When will residents get their water turned back on? And will the road be cleared of the muck in time for a film shoot scheduled Wednesday?
Murdock reached out to DEP to get answers. She also asked the comptroller for a status update on Saez's claim from last year and was awaiting word.
All too familiar headache
Once the sun came up and the flood water receded, CBS2's John Dias spoke with some residents who said their cars were also damaged in the 2021 water main break.
"I'm still waiting, still waiting to hear back from the city. I'm still waiting to hear back," one man told Dias.
"Happened again, and now a lot of these cars are damaged. Literately, the inside of my car is completely flooded, my car seat," a woman added.
Water main break turns Vernon Blvd. into river
Water filled the streets and cars were nearly submerged overnight in Long Island City, Queens.
As CBS2's John Dias reported, it's not going to be a fun morning for many on Vernon Boulevard, which looked more like a river than a road. Several cars are submerged in the water, no doubt many now ruined.
The water started flooding the area by 41st Street around 2 a.m. Tuesday.
Crews frantically tried to shut off the water to the surrounding area to stop more from pouring out. It finally started receding about two hours later.
In January 2021, the same area had a similar issue with a water main break just like this.
Neighbors told CBS2 crews came and repaired the line, but said it seems they may not have done a good enough job, since it appears the same line is busted again.
"This time, the water is actually coming out worse than last year. I feel sorry for a lot of people that got new cars, because they're flooded out," one person said. "The pipeline first busted, water came out, it wasn't this bad. But now, I don't know, there's all this brown stuff coming out. So I don't even know what's in that water, but it's real bad this year."
Crews are still working on what exactly caused the break, and it's still unclear how many cars were damaged.
