A water main break that flooded homes along Rockbridge Road in DeKalb County was blamed Thursday on a fire hydrant that snapped off its pipe, Channel 2 Action News reported. A new one will be installed Friday.
DeKalb County officials said a hydrant broke off a 16-inch pipe, and a blocked storm drain led to the flooding. For four hours Wednesday, water rushed into a culvert, over a retaining wall and into two homes along Rockbridge near Kenridge Circle in the Stone Mountain area.
County workers were able to stop the flowing water late Wednesday afternoon.
"The problem is old water lines," DeKalb spokesman Burke Brennan told Channel 2 Thursday. "Within the next couple of years, we are going to replace the entire line, but for now the fix has been made at Rockbridge Road, and we will have everything to look back to normal by the end of the day."
Crews were on the scene Thursday replacing the hydrant, water line and storm drain. Georgia Power workers also were on site, repairing a leaning power pole to keep it from falling over.
One resident, Angelo Diaz, told Channel 2 that at one point the current was so strong, he felt the ground move. “The floor would vibrate, there was so much water coming out,” said Diaz, who has lived in his home with his mother Maria for 14 years.
Thursday morning, knee-deep mud surrounded Diaz’ home and filled the basement.
“It’s just going to be really hard to clean up,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like this, really.”
The county has hired a crew to help residents clear mud from their homes. They started working Wednesday night, but the mud was so thick and deep, they had to return this morning with bigger pumps to continue the job.
-- Staff writer Alexis Stevens contributed to this article.
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