Water-main break forces evacuations in South Philadelphia

A broken water main at 21st and Bainbridge Streets about 8 last night forced evacuation of area residents and led to water-pressure loss and shut-offs. Story B2 (ELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer)

By Jennifer Lin, Inquirer Staff Writer

Posted: July 24, 2012

A major water-main break near 21st and Bainbridge Streets in Philadelphia on Sunday night forced the evacuation of three to four blocks of residents, city officials said.

Homes in a wider swath of South Philadelphia and Center City lost all or most of their water pressure.

Water in the area of the break was shut off as evacuees were being taken to the E.M. Stanton School at 17th and Christian Streets by the American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Around 8 p.m., neighbors began reporting seeing steam coming up through manholes, followed by gushing water.

Raheem Foster, 32, who lives in the neighborhood, said he saw steam rising from a half-dozen manhole covers. He said the water started coming up "like a river going down 21st Street."

In some places, the water was knee deep with a south-flowing current. The basemen in one house was fileld to the ceiling to the water.

With the streets flooding, homeowners scrambled to seal basement windows with plastic. Firefighters used boats to rescue some stranded neighbors.

John DiGiulio, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia Water Department, said crews had shut the 48-inch transmission main along 21st Street. That main feeds water into smaller mains throughout South Philadelphia.

He said the action would affect a wide area, from Pine Street to the north all the way south to Oregon Avenue - and result in low pressure or a loss of water. But residents as far apart as Seventh and Walnut Streets and Packer Avenue in the stadium area reported their water had been shut off or was down to a trickle.

DiGiulio said he did not know how far to the east and west the shut-off would interfere with people's water supply.

Neighbors reported that there had been construction in the area.

Contact Jennifer Lin at 215-854-5659, jlin@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @j_linq.

Staff writer Matt Katz contributed to this article.