Water-main break floods West Hollywood neighborhood

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- A 12-inch water-main break submerged several vehicles, flooded a commercial building and caused extensive street damage in a West Hollywood neighborhood Sunday.

The break occurred in the 1200 block of North Formosa Avenue at about 4:45 a.m., officials said.

Several vehicles in an underground parking structure were submerged as gallons of water spewed into the residential neighborhood. At least one business was damaged.

"If I had a raft I could have went down to Melrose Avenue," James Marthaler said.

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power crews responded to the scene and closed down the streets to start on repairs. There was no immediate estimate of how much water was lost.

"We have six vehicles in the underground parking that have been flooded, so now we're trying to evacuate the water, which is going to take us a couple more hours to complete that operation," said Trey Espy of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The water main was installed in 1936. LADWP officials believe the age was likely to blame for the break.

"It was just one of many places where we need to have a water main replaced," said Kirk Broyard with LADWP.

Twenty-seven customers on North Formosa Avenue, between Fountain Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard, were without water due to the water-main break. Service was restored by 6:45 p.m.

Crews remained on scene to clean up.