Water service was restored Friday to an area of the Midway District after a water main break flooded one motel and cars in a nearby parking lot and left several businesses without water for more than 12 hours.
The San Diego County Water Authority was notified of the main break at 3300 Rosecrans Street around 3:50 p.m. Thursday.
Officials said a 12-inch water line broke, leaving four customers without service.
One of those customers was a nearby Super 8 Motel. The entire first floor of the motel -- including roughly 18 rooms -- was flooded with a foot of water.
One motel employee used words such as exhausted to describe how he was feeling Friday morning. He was muddy from just trying to get inside, with all the mess.
Motel manager Asmita Patel was not prepared for the watery mess. “[We’re] just in shock right now. It’s like, what do we do?” she said.
The motel owner’s daughter, Nikita Patel, said their business got the brunt of the break.
“I feel like our building got hit the worst, especially being a hotel,” she told NBC 7 San Diego.
As a precaution, firefighters had to cut all of the Super 8 Motel’s utilities.
The owners told NBC 7 they hope insurance covers the cost of the water damage to their building.
“[I] can't even begin to think about [the costs] right now. It's going to be major,” added Asmita.
The Super 8 owners said they’re going to ask the city for help, since it was their water line that broke.
As for when the motel will be up and running again, the employee told NBC 7 San Diego they might begin renting rooms on the second floor and higher, within the next couple days.
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Meanwhile, the large water main break affected others in the area as well.
Cars in a nearby parking lot were submerged in water and traffic was backed up on Rosecrans between North Evergreen Street and Cauby Street for a good part of the afternoon. Police provided traffic control in the area.
The traffic and flooding also impacted customers and businesses in the nearby Loma Square Shopping Center.
Customers at the shopping center had a front row seat to the gushing water.
“[I] noticed it was getting heavier. Then mud started to come by. It came up to the window and came through the building. I looked out and I see all of this flooding,” Starbucks customer Jason Brusca told NBC 7.
Businesses like Starbucks and Jamba Juice had to close because their water was shut off.
No injuries were reported.
Crews stayed in the affected area throughout the night, cleaning up mud and debris and repairing the large main break.
