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Busted Water Mains Leading To Rising Frustration Across The City

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Water line emergency. Baltimore City flooded with calls as the frigid cold causes thousands of water service lines to break. Some homeowners now waiting days for help.

Meghan McCorkell has more as the city tries to respond.

The city has now set up a 24 hour command center to respond to an unprecedented number of calls.

Busted service lines and frozen pipes are leading to rising frustrations across the city.

"There's water, but there's no pressure," Yvonne Miles said.

Miles hasn't had water pressure for days. And when she called 311:

"It's usually, 'We'll be out there for 24 hours.' But he told us don't look at it for being 24 hours," she said.

She's not the only one waiting for help. A water main break up the street encased Tara Thomas' car in ice.

"This is ridiculous. I'm just at awe for words. I don't know," Thomas said.

Now city officials are working to respond to the crises the cold has caused.

"I hear your frustration. I see you, I hear you. And we're leaving nothing on the table," Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said.

"Just in the last seven days or so, we got about 5,000 plus calls," said Department of Public Works director Rudy Chow.

Chow says he has tripled his number of crews as they work around the clock to deal with an unprecedented number of breaks.

Even with the increased staff, Department of Public Works says it still has a backlog of about 4,000 calls. Most of those calls are for individual service lines.

But Director Chow warns--an even bigger problem may be on the horizon, as he expects serious issues with city water mains.

"I fully anticipate and we are gearing up and being prepared when the weather warms up. We do anticipate a higher spike," said Chow.

For now, he's asking those with water woes to remain patient.

Officials say if you have called 311, you are on the list for service--but it might be a wait.

The city sees an average of 1,000 water main breaks a year.

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