NBC 7’s Megan Tevrizian reports on a water main that has broken twice in the past week in National City.
Four homes and four vehicles were damaged when a sinkhole opened up along a National City street before dawn on Wednesday. One of the vehicles was a pickup truck that landed in a giant sinkhole.
Water flooded Delta Street near Scott Drive just before 6 a.m. The neighborhood is west of Interstate 805 and Palm Avenue, north of Division Street.
Sanjuana Salinas woke up to inches of water rushing into her home. She put down towels and clothes and sandbags to try to stop the flow but it was useless.
"I'm sad. No bueno," Salinas said.
She spent the morning mopping up the water that covered her floor. As a result, she missed a doctor's appointment she had scheduled for this morning.
Firefighters responded but had to wait until water crews arrived to turn off the water.
Just before 7 a.m., crews City of San Diego Public Utilities Department arrived and began work to determine the cause of the flooding.
A 12-inch, concrete water main broke, affecting 30 customers, according to Supervising Public Information Officer Arian Collins.
San Diego city employees are making the repairs because the broken pipe runs near the line between San Diego and National City.
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Residents of multiple nearby apartment units had to find another place to stay for the night, and possibly beyond.
The city said it will pay for the damages as well as temporary relocation expenses for the residents.
Water service was restored later in the evening after the pipe was fixed. To help customers while service was out, a water wagon was installed on site to provide water for cooking, drinking and other needs.
City crews are expected to return to the site Thursday to finish repairing the street.
The same water main broke last Friday but didn't cause as much damage, according to city officials.
Anyone who suffered damage as a result of the water main break can file a claim through this link.
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