Water main break forces Stowe Township businesses to close

STOWE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A water main break in Stowe Township forced several businesses to scale back or even close Thursday.

Water bubbled from the ground on Broadway Avenue for four hours, causing the road to buckle.

Channel 11 spoke to RJ Carrabbia, the owner of Broadway Brunch, who said his basement was flooded. He had to shut his restaurant down because water was coming through the walls.

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"It's a week before Christmas and I might have to close down. Without water, we can't operate. So if that's the case, we are going to shut down for the day and open up tomorrow," Carrabbia said.

West View Water Authority tells Channel 11 that, around 6 a.m., a 6-inch water main pipe burst. the break was repaired by Thursday afternoon.

But inside the Hair Is Where It’s At salon, business – much like the water pressure – was slow.

“It has been real slow, real slow,” said a worker there. “Can’t do hair, can’t wash, can’t do nothing.”

And while some businesses were unlucky, directly across the street others kept right on cooking.

“I had a customer today, and he said, ‘You have water?’ and I said, ‘Yes, we do,’” said Muhammed Hamdan, owner of Hook Fish and Chicken. “He says, ‘You are lucky.’”

Hamdan told Channel 11 he can't afford to lose water, because no water means no revenue.

“This is business,” he said. “If we don’t have water, we can't serve any food here. We can’t wash our equipment, we can’t wash our hands. That's a big problem.”

People are hoping this cold weather snap won’t continue to wreak havoc and businesses can get back to normal soon.

“I feel bad about them and I hope things will be OK soon and water will come back for them,” said Hamdan.

Cox Media Group