Upper Monroe neighbors cleaning up after water main break; city continues repair work

Rochester, N.Y. (WHAM) — Several neighbors along Rochester’s Monroe Avenue captured images and video of the aftermath of the water main break, as city officials and crews addressed the damage.

BACKGROUND:Water main break in Rochester resolved, no boil advisory issued

As water rushed into surrounding streets, Pamela Graham captured video of her basement rapidly filling with water.

“My hot water heater, all of my power tools, my washing machine, my dryer, all of that is going to have to be replaced,” Graham said. “You do feel a little bit helpless,” Graham said of the experience. “It seemed like there were a lot of fire responders here. They were trying their best to do something, but they didn’t really know what to do, because it was just as I said, unprecedented. One of the water people, young man, that came later to check on people, basically said, We’ve never seen anything like this in 30 years.”

City officials said crews first responded to the area for a reported leak around 1:30 Saturday. The leak, a spokesperson said, progressed relatively quickly into a burst.

“When City crews noticed the pressure drop within the system, water reservoir bypasses were opened and they worked with Monroe County Water Authority to activate a booster pump station to address the drop in water pressure as crews worked to bypass the break in the 36-inch water main,” the City spokesperson said in a statement late Saturday evening. “The Monroe County Health Department has assessed the situation and has determined that at no time was water quality compromised, so a boil water advisory is not required. Officials point to the immediate response by City water crews as the key to maintaining water quality. Customers may notice that water from the tap appears cloudy. This happens when water experiences sudden changes in flows and pressures. If concerned, customers can simply run their faucets until the cloudy appearance clears. There are no safety concerns with the water. The City’s Water Bureau team will continue working overnight and in the coming days to address the break. No further interruption of service is expected as crews fix the main. Any impact to traffic patterns will be announced as needed.”

Nearby neighbor Emma Faunce described the moment the water main broke, and capturing rushing water just steps away from her front door.

“It looked like, almost like a geyser, kind of, it was just like bubbling up,” said Faunce. “It was a little bit scary,” said Faunce. “I’ve had a few leaks before, just from being in a basement, but nothing quite this intense.”

Busy with repair work on Sunday afternoon, Faunce spoke with 13WHAM after purchasing a dehumidifier for her apartment. Hours earlier, she said dark, cloudy water had backed up into her bathtub.

Further north, Hannah Summerfield-Goncher shared video with 13WHAM of water rushing into her basement, which had quickly risen. Summerfield-Goncher noticed what appeared to be foundational damage Sunday morning.

“We discovered this morning, after all the water was gone,” Summerfield-Goncher said, motioning to a drop in the pavement where her driveway met the side of her home.

“There’s this big gap underneath the chimney. You know, it definitely didn’t look like that before,” she said.

Throughout the afternoon, crews could be seen working in and around a hole roughly 25 feet wide near the intersection of Rosedale Street and Monroe Avenue. A section of the damaged water main had been removed.

“Right now I have huge fans and dehumidifiers running in my basement that came from the restoration company that I called,” Graham said. “My insurance company advised me to do that. They pumped water until 5:30 in the morning, then they put the power back on, and so at least it’s drying out, and an adjuster will be here tomorrow.

A spokesperson for the City of Rochester said the city’s water infrastructure is old, and cities in the northeast face challenges like these.

The city does regular maintenance and the Water Bureau has high-tech equipment that helps us manage the issues that come with aging infrastructure,” the spokesperson added. “We had recently replaced valves in the area, so those infrastructure improvements made things really smooth when we had to reroute water last night.

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