Norristown crews scramble to restore service after large water main break
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- Hundreds of people in Norristown lost water, including several Montgomery County offices, after a large water main broke Monday morning.
Just after 4 a.m., the city's fire department posted on Facebook that a large water main break at Penn and Cherry streets was flooding multiple nearby roads.
Norristown Fire Chief Tom O'Donnell said Pennsylvania American Water is currently working to shut the valves, and once that happens, water levels on the roads should start to recede. When the valves are closed, O'Donnell said more crews will arrive with the equipment needed to repair the 16-inch break. Those repairs are expected to last all day Monday.
"I heard them out there shutting the water off," said Colleen Whigham, who lives on Cherry Street.
That was at 7 a.m., about four hours after water rushed through the streets on and around Cherry Street at West Penn Street.
"So, trying to get ready for work, trying to get ready for school, it was really hectic this morning," Whigham said.
That was partly because Whigham found out her family's preschool, Precious Life Learning Center, was in jeopardy. Pennsylvania American Water officials said there was a smaller and related water main break near the preschool.
"A small break just impacting about 20 folks on East Marshall, and it's connected to this main break," said Kara Rahn, the senior manager of Government and External Affairs at Pennsylvania American Water.
"I was checking on the map, and I was like, 'oh no!'," Whigham said. "Because we also have school-age. So, we have over 30 students that come through here every day."
Whigham and her staff started making calls in case the school also lost water service.
"We need to be able to wash hands and the bathrooms and we would just have to close," she said.
Whigham said despite all the chaos, and no water at home, she was just happy to help parents as much as she could.
"Our goal was to try to have them at least go to work for some hours today," she said, "versus just shutting down because we saw the notifications."
She thanked her staff and especially the moms and dads.
"The staff has been amazing, super flexible," Whigham said. "Parents are flexible, have been willing to come back, if that's what they need to do."
Near Cherry Street, Sandra Irwin recalled to CBS News Philadelphia that her reading time was interrupted at around 4 a.m.
"The fire department came and they knocked on everybody's door in the building," Irwin said.
That's when she looked out of her window near Barbadoes Street and saw, what she said, looked like a river in her neighborhood.
"It was horrible. I saw people not being able to move," Irwin said.
While a mandatory evacuation was not in place, O'Donnell said water rescue personnel went door-to-door early Monday to tell residents about a warming station at Norristown Fire Department's Fairmount Station on West Main Street.
Irwin said firefighters recommended she evacuate on her own.
"Or, they would help us to move someplace else. And nobody wanted to move," she said.
Rahn said it was around 3:15 a.m. that the 16-inch main broke.
"One of our largest water mains in our system was having water come out onto the street," she said. "So, that was why there was so much water."
Rahn said crews did know why this break happened. They were just focused on getting the water turned back on for customers, like the Tummy Time convenience store, which closed early because of lack of water.
Irwin said she was disappointed she couldn't get a snack, but she was impressed that the river in her neighborhood was gone.
"I did not expect it to be this clear today. I thought it would be frozen," she said. "But they did a good job."
O'Donnell added that when the water recedes enough, Public Works will start salting the roads to prevent any freezing.
Fire officials shared on an update on their Facebook page that the only remaining road closure in effect was at the intersection of Penn and Cherry streets.
As of Monday afternoon, about 300 properties are without water due to the main break, including the Montgomery County Courthouse, an adult probation office and the family court facility, all three of which will either work remotely or remain closed for the day while crews work to make repairs.
Pennsylvania American Water officials said they are confident that everything should be back up and running by Tuesday morning.
