Water main break floods Bellevue neighborhood

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Heavy rain made it tough to contain a huge water main break in Bellevue along the 900 block of 110th Avenue Southeast.

KIRO 7 was first on the scene minutes after that pipe failed about 3 a.m. and sent water gushing into a neighborhood.

Bellevue city water workers spent Wednesday replacing 18 feet of water main that burst.

The city said it’s hard to tell exactly what led to the break. It could be the heavy rains or older pipes under a lot of pressure that finally gave out.

With a rumble and a shake, 110th Avenue Southeast turned into a muddy river.

“It sounded like a jet aircraft going off, a jet engine,” neighbor Patrick Moran said. “(Water) was blowing out about 10 feet. It was just spraying out water. We've never seen anything like it. It was kind of scary, actually."

The 6-inch water main installed in 1953 burst. It sent water, rocks and mud into the air and down the already rain-soaked road.

By sunrise, the damage was visible -- a large gaping hole.

With his water shut off, Moran headed to shower at the gym instead.

One house down the road got the worst of the damage.

The bumpy road forced a school bus route to re-route.

"I have water so I was able to take a shower this morning. But I have two kids that I need to get off to school,” resident Lyn Edwards said.

Kids had to walk a bit further to catch a ride to school.

Bellevue city water said they respond to 30 water main breaks a year.

"This is very common and sometimes they get old and they blow out," Kipp Fockler with Bellevue City Water said.

The city estimates the repair work to be completed by around 4 p.m.

Until it is fixed, around 23 homes will be without water.

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