Large water main break floods area near Saw Mill River Parkway in Yonkers

YONKERS (WABC) -- Crews are on the scene of a large water main break in Yonkers that flooded streets and temporarily closed the area to traffic.

The 12-inch main ruptured at about 4:30 a.m. Monday at Nepperhan Avenue and Executive Boulevard.

The break closed the intersection, flooded basements and delayed the opening of nearby schools.

Some homeowners said they woke up to the sound of gushing water inside their houses.

"The sump pump sounded funny," resident Winifred Riker said. "So I said let me see what's going on, since we didn't have any rain. When I opened the basement door, that's when I saw all the water down there."

The Public Works Department had to bring in a huge pump to drain the water out of the hole where the break occurred before repairs could begin.

Con Edison was keeping a close eye on the situation, because a gas line runs along the break site.

"We have a Con Ed gas line that was run inside of an old steel pipe," said Tom Meier, of the DPW Commission. "It was an old steel pipe where they inserted the modern pipeage system and thought the steel was going to hold, but it was an old system so that collapsed as well."

Some homes in the area had low water pressure, but no water outages were reported.

Water was also flowing onto the Saw Mill River Parkway entrance ramp at exit 9, temporarily closing the highway in both directions to keep cars out of the water.

The city says there is no word yet on what caused the break, but officials said the pipe might have been installed as far back as 100 years ago.

Repair work continues, however roads are back open and water service is fully restored.