Top Stories

Massive water main break floods businesses, homes

MILLVALE, Pa. — Crews are working to repair a massive water main break in Millvale that flooded an intersection, basements and businesses.

The 12-inch break happened Thursday night at the corner of East Ohio Street and Stanton Avenue. Police said the water was waist-high at one point.

If you want to receive BREAKING ALERTS, please download our WPXI News App. You can also follow WPXI on Facebook and Twitter.

The Millvale fire chief said several homes had flooded basements, but businesses were hit the worst.

“It went down inside there, and it came up almost to the top of the steps,” said Joe Roethlein, co-owner of Grant Bar and Lounge. “The door was closed, so it didn’t get much in there, and a drain is at the bottom, so we got lucky, we really did.”

Roethlein said about 2 inches of water got into the basement of the business he co-owns. He believes the damage is between $3,000 and $4,000.
"Everything that's on the floor gets thrown away," he said.

The business was forced to close for the day.

“It’s just bad enough that you gotta close up, clean up. You gotta bleach everything down, but that’s about it. It’s just an all-day thing,” he said.

TRENDING NOW:

The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority believes four homes are without water. They hope to have repairs made to the broken water main by 4 p.m. Friday.

The PWSA provided bottled water to the homes without service.

Because of the cold temperatures, salt trucks were brought in overnight to ensure the water wouldn't freeze over on the roads and cause a hazard for drivers.

Duquesne Light crews were called to the scene because of a damaged utility pole that was leaning toward a business.

The intersection remains closed to traffic.

 

Cox Media Group

Most Read