Baltimore residents frustrated by delayed response to water main break

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — City crews have repaired at least a dozen water breaks this week, but a significant incident in the Evergreen community left residents in a state of panic. On Thursday morning, a broken water main sent thousands of gallons of water rushing down Keswick Road, transforming it into a river.

Beth Graham, a resident whose home sits at the bottom of the hill, described the scene: “It was like a waterfall.” She was teaching on Zoom when her husband alerted her to the flooding. “Initially it was panic. When my husband came in and I was teaching on Zoom and he was like… we’re screwed!” said Graham.

Despite repeatedly calling 3-1-1, Graham said she received no immediate assistance. “On my third call, I said to the woman on 311 this isn’t a cat in a tree this isn’t a pothole. This is a major flood and it’s coming onto our property,” she recounted. It took two and a half hours for city officials to respond and stop the water, only after Graham turned to social media to tag city officials and plead for help.

“Our greatest concern was that it took two and a half hours to respond and stop the water,” she said. The water came within an inch of entering her home, but her neighbor’s SUV was not as fortunate. “The inside was totally soaked when you opened the door water was just rushing in,” Graham said.

City crews spent the day repairing the water main and repaving the road. However, the city has yet to explain the delay in response. Graham’s home escaped with minimal damage, which she attributed to “guardian angels or whatever someone up there was helping keep the water away from our front door.”

Calls to the Department of Public Works regarding the cause of the break have gone unanswered.