Water main break floods road in Oceanside

A water main break in Oceanside that turned a residential street into a river Monday afternoon and prompted evacuations has mostly receded. The break happened on Pearl Street, according to American

News 12 Staff

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May 17, 2016, 6:25 AM

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Updated 3,141 days ago

A water main break in Oceanside that turned a residential street into a river Monday afternoon and prompted evacuations has mostly receded.

The break happened on Pearl Street, according to American Water. Fire officials say they evacuated residents along the block and shut off electric and gas to affected homes.

Video from the scene showed at least two vehicles partially submerged in several feet of water.

News 12 is told that at its highest, the water was creeping up driveways and into the garages of some homes.

At one point, 60 crew members from local fire departments were on scene. They worked to pump the pooling water into a canal behind the houses.

"It really couldn't have been a better situation, because in any other way, we wouldn't have had any other place to put the water," says Chief John Madden, of the Oceanside Fire Department.

Most of the water had been cleaned up by the evening, but officials say some homes remained without water Monday night. Pearl Street was also closed to traffic as utility crews made repairs.

Customers in Oceanside, Baldwin, Roosevelt and South Hempstead were reporting water-pressure issues that American Water says was related to the main break.