A contractor nicked a water main on the border of San Francisco and Daly City on Thursday morning, flooding over a dozen homes.
According to the San Francisco Fire Department, the line break was reported around 10:15 a.m. at 187 Goethe Street. The water has since been shut off.
Patrick Sweetland, the director of Daly City's Department of Water and Wastewater Resources, said the contractor in question was completing a water main improvement project.
"During that work, apparently a pipeline came undone causing an 8-inch water main to leak down Wilson Street," Sweetland said.
About 43,000 gallons of water were spilled before the line was capped. Three homes on Goethe Street and 11 on nearby Wilson Street were flooded, he said.
A woman, who identified herself only as Serena, said water flowed from the street above into her new apartment.
"It was literally so high it was coming over a fence," Serena said of the ankle-deep water.
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Another resident, who said her name is Blackstar, said the water resembled the Russian River as it gushed down the road.
City crews will continue clean-up efforts as they investigate the degree to which the 14 houses are damaged. Sweetland said they are also working with a restoration agency to address the needs of people who were affected by the water main break — some of whom are being put up in a hotel Thursday night.
For her part, Serena, whose shoes squeaked on her soaked carpet, said, "It was a lot better looking than this before. Hopefully they get us new furniture, rugs, and things."
NBC Bay Area's Rhea Mahbubani contributed to this report.
