Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Crews and residents in North Buffalo continue to clean up from a water main break early Sunday morning on Hartwell Road that left the streets flooded, as well as a number of residences.
The Buffalo Fire Department responded to the large water main break on Hartwell Road just before 6 a.m. on Sunday. Initial units found multiple homes effected by water in their basements with anywhere from a couple of inches of water to 4 feet.
Special Operations units led evacuation efforts for eight residents, while a number of businesses were also affected by the water main break on Sunday.
Residents in the neighborhood were left shocked by the events unfolding before them in the early morning hours on Sunday.
"Sunday morning, there's trucks everywhere. I think the fire chief in that red truck parked in the intersection, it looked like they were checking for maybe a drain or something. But water all through the street, especially on this left side there, and firefighters knocking, making sure there's no water in the basements," said Rachel, who lives on Camden Drive near Tacoma Avenue. "Luckily, we didn't have any, because that's a time there. Nobody wants to deal with that in February. They were out there for a good little bit, just checking around, trying to poke through some stuff. And then you've got the plows coming, they're salting everything so then it's freezing. And now everything's just hard salt."
Even more than 24 hours later, Rachel said she still had around an inch-thick of ice in her driveway, as water made it down the street quite a way to her property.
As the result of the water then freezing, it left some residents' vehicles trapped in ice and slush that came from crews trying to salt the roads.
"You've got people trying to get their cars out and they can't, because they're kind of frozen in now. I just saw a lady, three people trying to push her car out through all the ice and the gunk that's there," Rachel said with WBEN.
As for Angela, she was coming back from her late night shift at work when she saw a bunch of firefighters responding to her road on Hartwell. She lucked out with not having any major concerns due to the water main break at her complex.
"We were worried about the flooding, but luckily it didn't really reach our basement. We usually get some flooding, but it wasn't as bad down here. It might have been probably worse up there, though," Angela said with WBEN.
As a result of the flooding, though, National Fuel shut off access to gas at her residence for much of Sunday, leaving Angela and the other tenants there without heat.
"It's kind of frustrating, which I know things happen, but we didn't have heat for hours in 8 degree weather. It sucks when something like that happens, and then the whole neighborhood is kind of put out, and we're left here waiting in 8 degree weather for heat. That is very frustrating," Angela said.
Buffalo deputy mayor Ben Swanekamp says it was a valve bonnet that blew off on the 8-inch water main on Hartwell, resulting in some corresponding breaks at an additional main near the Elmwood Regal Plaza, as well as an additional 6-inch water main on a loop from Comet Avenue to Cecil Street.
"That leak then caused some flooding onto the street, and because of the amount of ice and snow in the storm sewer grates, that then led to additional flooding on the street because the water couldn't get down to the storm sewers," said Swanekamp in an interview with WBEN. "That also caused an issue with Buffalo Sewer. So that was sort of the cascade of effects that occurred over there."
Water services were fully restored by to residents and businesses by 4 p.m. Sunday, according to Swanekamp.
Meanwhile, Buffalo Sewer went to work to clear out the sewer lines, thus allowing water to flow out of folks' basements.
"We had about 13 properties, it looks like, that were affected by the flooding. The majority had maybe 1-to-2 inches of water, but some had more - A foot, and two properties had nearly 3-to-4 feet of water in them, closer to where the valve gasket blew off," Swanekamp noted.
He adds Buffalo Sewer was asked to deploy pumps, if needed, while other residents were able to procure pumps on their own or from neighbors to speed up the pumping process.
With the issue of water on the street becoming an additional issue due to the freezing cold temperatures, crews went to work in an attempt to avoid vehicle damage.
"The Department of Public Works in the City of Buffalo sent out crews to begin pushing and moving that slush out of the street to keep cars safe, and laying down layers of salt try and keep it from freezing further," Swanekamp detailed. "We also sent out a team, I think that was out there actually this morning as well, from the mayor's Impact Team to clear off ice build up from the sidewalks as well."
Swanekamp says it's very hard to predict whenever a water main can break or become an issue, due to the fact the city's water line system is very large, and much of it being very old, dating back to the 1920s.
"Typically with a valve gasket leak like this, I'm told by the experts that normally there'd be a smaller leak before things get this bad, that they can get out too early and remedy. But in this case, that was not the case. It just went ahead and blew," he said. "If folks do see water pooling or see unusual issues or pressure drops in their area, they should call 3-1-1, so a crew from the Buffalo Water Authority can get out as soon as possible to take a look at the problem."