Flood of Problems in Newport Beach
A stretch of Newport Beach looked more like Venice -- the one in Italy -- early Wednesday morning.
Newport Beach Fire Capt. Jeff Boyles said water gushed from a decades-old water main on the Newport Beach peninsula, in Orange County. The water flooded some businesses and turned the sidewalk into a canal.
As if that wasn't enough, the burst pipe opened a sinkhole at Via Lido and Newport Boulevard. It will probably tie up traffic through Wednesday.
Crews said the sinkhole might expand. It was about 20 feet wide early Wednesday.
"The weight of the asphalt went into the void," said Ed Burt, of Newport Beach Utilities. "We almost had a small tractor fall in that hole. It's larger than we thought. We just have to pull out the asphalt, piece by piece, with a back hoe."
Police Sgt. Chuck Freeman said the water had been shut off as of 6 a.m. City utility crews are cleaning up. A block of 15 to 20 businesses are affected.
The cause of the 20-inch pipe break is under investigation. The pipe was installed in the 1920s, according to officials.
And there was yet another break in Los Angeles. A pipe burst and caused street flooding on the city's west side.
Department of Water and Power spokeswoman Kim Hughes said water is shut off in the area, affecting 20 customers, and crews are working to fix the 6-inch pipe.
There have been more than 35 major water main blowouts in the Los Angeles water system since Sept. 1.
