At least one home was flooded and more than 20 families were without water Tuesday night after a water main broke in Mountain View.
The break buckled Delta Street and gravity carried a surge of mud and water downhill into Miguel Mendez’ home. At one point, there was more than 2 feet of standing water inside. The muddy mess also flooded a parking lot next to his home.
Water workers say the breach in the 12-inch pipe happened at 7 p.m.
It’s the second such rupture of the same water main since January.
Mendez said the first break caused a flood that totaled the two cars he had stored in the lot, a Chrysler 300 and a 1979 Thunderbird under a tarp. The second flood came before he could have them removed.
"We're still working with the city on our first case. We still haven't got done with them now this happens,” Mendez said. “I have been telling them we need a sidewalk. If we had a sidewalk, water would probably gone just to the curb and a little bit of water would have come in. We were trying to work on that."
Two crews were working at the scene through the night, one trying to fix the broken main and another at the bottom of the hill trying to clean up the sludge.
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Water customers in two apartment buildings and several single-family homes on Delta Street were told their service should be back on by 7 a.m. Wednesday.
Repairs were completed on the pipeline and water service was restored at 8 a.m. Wednesday, according to Arian Collins with the City of San Diego.
Collins said the pipe appears to have deteriorated, causing the break. It's believed the pipe was installed more than 40 years ago.
