The cleanup continues in a San Francisco neighborhood after a water main break sent a wall of water and mud flooding into nearby homes.
The incident happened on 29th Avenue near Fulton in the Richmond District around 11 a.m. Tuesday and the mess stretched for three blocks, including Terence Chan’s garage.
“Not good at all,” he said. “Not a good experience at all.”
Chan said it’s not the first time he’s been hit, but feels more fortunate than his neighbors.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
“Compared to the other two I was lucky because I don’t have that much luggage stored in the garage,” he said.
All of the damage was because of old age, a spokesman for the city’s Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) said.
Local
“The cause of the break appears to be the age of the pipe, underscoring the need to continue to invest in upgrading aging infrastructure,” said John Cote of the SFPUC.
The pipe that gave way transports water between reservoirs in the city, and does not deliver it to customers.
Still, there were some disturbing moments for neighbors, including Sharon Breyer and her grandchildren Henry, Emma and Jack, when suddenly there was water everywhere and not a drop to drink.
“And then I came home and the water coming out of the faucet was brown,” said Breyer. “It did clear up, but I didn’t want to drink any of it.
The PUC blames the dirty drinking water on sediment stirred up by the broken pipe.
As for who’s on the hook for the damages there, that would be the city of San Francisco.
The city attorney sent representatives out to talk to the people whose homes were damaged to help start that process.
