The water is back on, but the mess is still very much there.
Residents from at least 20 homes in Mountain View awoke to no water Wednesday morning after a water main ruptured causing a large sinkhole. It has been a day of cleanup up and dealing with the inconvenience.
"This morning when I got up to fix my breakfast, the water started getting cold," Giles Anderson said, whose water heater was flooded by the rushing water.
What started as a small rupture Tuesday afternoon, near the corner of 35th street and Durant, quickly grew out of control when a 30-inch cast iron pipe exploded.
“All of sudden it shot in the sky. Everything started cracking, the street started cracking on the side,” witness Ronald Jones said.
Hours later, thousands of gallons of water started rushing down streets and into homes.
“I came earlier and the water wasn't this bad,” Debra Munoz said.
The single-mother of five was worried about the damage to items in her garage -- things like toys, clothes and electronics.
”Our apartment is high up, but our other belongings are down here,” Munoz said.
The water was finally shut off, three hours after the break was reported, but the damage was already done.
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”The backyard is full of mud, six inches deep in mud,” Rudy Munoz said. “The bottom line is, who is going to take care of this and clean up the mess?”
The city says it had contracted crews in last night to clean up the worst of it. From here, however, residents are pretty much on their own. They are able to file claims with the city to be reimbursed for any damage or cleanup costs.
The cause of the rupture is still unknown, but old age was probably a factor. The pipe was 55 years old.
