Vehicles submerged in Hollywood due to broken water main

HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A water-main break left a huge mess in Hollywood on Wednesday.

The 18-inch pipe ruptured around 2 a.m., flooding a neighborhood and submerging four cars in the 6400 block of Dix Street. Police officers knocked on doors to alert residents.

About 100 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers lost water service as crews worked carefully to shut down the water valve without causing more damage.

The LADWP said service was expected to be restored by 10 p.m.

Austin Wood was among those who found his car underwater.

"I looked out the window out of my bedroom, which is on Franklin Avenue, and there was nothing so I kind of just shrugged it off. I went to the bathroom on the other side and looked over, seeing my parking lot and my car completely flooded," said Wood. "For a little bit, I didn't think it was real."

Nick Brightwell's truck was parked on the street and wasn't damaged, but what he lost, he says, was much worse. His childhood belongings were packed in his first-floor storage unit, which got flooded.

"The stuff that's irreplaceable, unfortunately, is the stuff that I chose to put down there," said Brightwell.

The cast iron pipe that burst was installed in 1926. According to LADWP officials, the pipe had no history of leaks over the past 10 years.

"The pipe repair itself is pretty straightforward. The question becomes how much other infrastructure, how much street has to be torn out and replaced, how much sidewalk," said LADWP Water Operations Director Marty Adams.

A steady stream flowed for most of the day, as crews gradually shut down the water. They say an immediate shut-off would strain the valves and could cause more breaks.

In the last five years, the LADWP says it has been replacing aging water mains and the leak rate is down 40 percent. They say they are targeting the worst pipes in the city, but they simply can't get to each and every one before a break occurs.

"We know that we're targeting the worst pipes but we can't get to every one that's going to break first. In this case, this pipe had no indication that it was destined for failure at all so this leak caught us by surprise," said Adams.