Water main break affects 125+ homes in Northeast Philly

NORTH PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - Northeast Philadelphia residents spent their Tuesday cleaning up mud, water, and ice left behind by a large water main break overnight.

The break impacted dozens of homes in the middle of bitter cold winter night,

Residents near Medford and Minden Roads were woken up to water flowing through their streets and into some of their homes.

"It was 3 a.m., there was water rushing into my basement," homeowner Thomas Gares told FOX 29's Dawn Timmeney.

Gares waded through several inches of mud and water that were part of the mess left behind in his finished basement after an 8-inch water main broke on the 1200 block of Minden Street.

"I thought it was a toilet running or a sink, I came downstairs, there was a foot of water in my basement," Gares recalled.

Neighbor Janet Blatchford says she heard a loud bang and then water came rushing down her driveway and into her home in like a raging river.

"The water was just coming in was just coming in, I mean it was pouring in, coming up from the ground, there was nothing you could do," she explained.

The whole downstairs of her home was left soggy and covered in mud.

Other residents faced other types of damage including replacing washers, dryers, and potentially heaters and cars.

Water department crews remained at the scene all day in brutal conditions to work on repairing the main.

Officials say approximately 125 homes across two blocks are affected.