Residents Cleaning Up After Water Main Break Floods Streets, Homes In West Babylon
WEST BABYLON, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Residents are cleaning up Tuesday after a water main break flooded streets and homes in West Babylon.
Crews worked through the night to repair the water main, which ruptured Monday night on Neptune Avenue at Lafayette Street, sending thousands of gallons of water gushing into the streets and into the basements of about three homes on the block.
"The utility window is where it cracked through and it was pouring down like Niagara Falls," homeowner Tracey Reis told CBS2's Janelle Burrell. "When there's no control over the situation, you have no idea what to do so you just sit there and watch."
A couple of doors down, Krystal Breedlove didn't know what to expect starting her car this morning.
"Kind of freaked me out," she said. "Most of the mess is outside."
A mess of mud coated most of their driveway and the street.
Crews finished the final repairs to the broken water main Tuesday morning, but for neighbors whose belongings are destroyed, the clean up will be more difficult.
"Now I'm getting upset talking about it, was my grandmother's Christmas decorations down there," said Reis. "It's material things. It's the memories that you have to remember."
As for the muddy sludge left behind, crews told homeowners to let it all dry out and they'll be back in a few days to sweep it away.
Suffolk water officials say it's hard to pinpoint what caused the break, but they say the summer water demand and the old cast iron pipes were likely factors.
