Cars under water, street flooded after Queens water main break
OAKLAND GARDENS, Queens (WABC) -- A water main break in Queens Friday flooded several blocks and left more than a dozen cars under water Friday.
The main ruptured at 67th Avenue and 210th Street in Oakland Gardens, buckling the street.
NewsCopter7 was over the scene, showing the damage.
Emergency crews from the Department of Environmental Protection responded to assess the situation and make necessary repairs, and it was said to be a race to contain the fallout.
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The owner of one of the submerged cars, who said she parked there Thursday night, is counting her blessings despite the loss of her vehicle.
"I'm lucky to be alive, that's all," she said.
Resident Huang Yisheng was left with 2 feet of water in his basement, which is actually the least of his problems.
"This is so bad for us," he said. "But the bigger problem is my (flooded out) boiler and the water heater...My wife is sick. She's got lung cancer. This is the problem. No heat, no hot water."
He had sandbags to contain the flooding and a rake to clear out the muck.
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Workers poked around to locate drain caps, which eventually did the trick and allowed the water to drain -- but not before a whole lot of residents waded through the mess or had to detour around it.
"So we got trails all over the place," cyclist Ralphie Carvajal said. "And I guess today, it's white water rafting."
The water was shut off, and workers cleared catch basins to help alleviate the street flooding.
The DEP later determined the break was on a 12-inch main and approximately 20 homes were without water as of 8:30 p.m. Friday.
The investigation is ongoing into the cause of the break.
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