'Never Seen Anything Like It:' 36-Inch Water Main Break Floods Metro Roads, Hurts Local Businesses

Oklahoma City maintenance crews are working to repair a water main break that left Pennsylvania Avenue flooded between Northwest 7th Street and Northwest 2nd Street.

The 36-inch water main break happened sometime before 7 a.m. Monday caused traffic headaches and hurt business for some local shops.

As of Tuesday afternoon, they are still working on repairs.

According to nearby business owners, the water rose to three feet in some places. "I've never seen anything like that," witness Nolan Stambaugh said.

Stambaugh was visiting a nearby store, United Refrigeration, where he worked for years before retiring. "I came over and they've got this blocked off, so I pulled in here and saw all that water down there and finally figured out what was going on," he said.

The city of Oklahoma City announced via Facebook all lanes on Pennsylvania Avenue between West Main Street and Northwest 8th Street would be closed.

"Every street I tried to turn down there was a roadblock on Pennsylvania," Stambaugh said.

The city told News 9 in a statement an estimated 10,000 Oklahoma City utility customers would likely experience low water pressure until the break is repaired.

United Refrigeration's general manager says their water experienced a small dip in pressure.

But the biggest impact according to several businesses at Northwest 4th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue was the lack of customers.

They were left with flooded parking lots, meaning no one could get to their stores.

Stambaugh says flooding has always been an issue in the area due to bad drainage. "I mean when it rains a lot it'll get flooded back here and it'll flood down there but nothing like that," he said.

The city says it still doesn't know what caused this break, but they've called in third-party crews to assist in getting the repair underway.

Several road sections near the main break location are closed until further notice. Impacted areas include:

1. Main Street between Virginia and Pennsylvania Avenues. (eastbound lane closed).
2. Northwest 10th Street between Barnes and Villa Avenues (open one way both directions).
3. Pennsylvania Avenue between Main Street and Northwest 7th Street (all lanes closed in both directions).

On Tuesday afternoon, the City of OKC said they are still working to repair the break and will have specialized equipment is needed for the repairs.

They said crews will be able to use the equipment by Wednesday morning, but there is no estimate on when the repair will be complete and water pressure will be back to normal.