House damaged by geyser caused by water main break in Peters Township

PETERS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Lifelong neighbors along McCombs Road in Peters Township say they’ve never seen anything quite like it before after a water line broke early this morning.

The force was so great that the water, which had rocks in it, was shooting 40 to 50 feet into the air.

Matt Dekman says he was woken up by police at 5 o’clock Friday morning.

“It looked like the fountain at the point that’s what it looked like to me,” Dekman said.

Pennsylvania American Water says the geyser stems from a broken 8-inch water main.

“When I first heard what was going on, I thought it was hail,” Kimberly Tucker said.

Robert and Kimberly Tucker’s home, built in 1851, flooded via their chimney.

“When it broke it was like a fire truck out there just pouring water out on your roof for hours,” Robert Tucker said,

“I think it’s gonna be ok. I think we’ll be able to get back to it, it’s just we’ve put so much work into restoring the house,” Robert Tucker said.

Crews were able to cut the water off close to 6 a.m., which came as a shock to some of the 28 customers impacted.

Neighbor Wendy Edgar said, “My husband was actually in the shower and he said all of the sudden the water pressure just stopped.”

Residents had their water restored late Friday afternoon. Now comes the cleanup.

“All the rocks and everything from under the street is all in the backyard now. The water just carried it all into my backyard. Clean it up eventually,” Dekman said.

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