Water Main Break Closes Portion Of Charles St. In Mt. Vernon
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A water main break in Mount Vernon Wednesday evening caused quite a stir along a busy road at the heart of rush hour.
The 10-inch water line break was underneath N. Charles St., between Preston and Mt. Royal.
It was like a mini geyser erupted after the break, causing water to start gushing down the road.
People who saw it said they had a hard time believing it was real.
WJZ was first on the scene of the chaos unfolding in Mount Vernon.
The 1300 block of N. Charles St. was saturated and temporarily transformed into what can best be described as a stream after a water main break.
Those in the midst of it all told WJZ they could hear it before they actually saw it
"It felt like a burst," said Dana Davis-Gill. "We heard a big burst, we heard a big boom."
"I was just so surprised. I was like, 'What just happened?,'" said Taylor Lynn, who saw the water main break.
Baltimore City's Department of Public Works said the culprit was a 10-inch main that ruptured.
Officials said the break was large, but not massive.
"This is more than routine," said Kurt Kocher. "It's unfortunate because of the location, because that means it's going to affect a lot of traffic."
And impact traffic it did.
Chopper 13 was over the region as police shut the road down and began diverting traffic in the heart of rush hour.
"This was just pouring and gushing out water, and we were just like, 'This is a little bit serious,'" said Davis-Gill.
Public works crews were eventually able to turn off the water, but the damage to the road had been done.
A good amount of sediment and debris is now along a portion of N. Charles St., the end result of some of that water that was gushing down the road.
As for the road itself, it will likely be closed for the next several days.
Work crews will also check to see if any other underground utilities were effected.
While there appears to be no imminent threat to the neighborhood, it certainly provided plenty of people with something to talk to about.
[Reporter: "If you could use one word to describe this situation, what would it be?] "Definitely crazy," Lynn said.
While there is somewhat of a hole in the street, DPW crews say they don't anticipate it getting any larger.
It's still unclear what caused the water main to burst.
The Department of Transportation and the Mayor's Office are working to determine if traffic modifications will be needed for Thursday night's monument lighting.
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