EMBED >More News Videos Watch the report from Maggie Kent on Action News at 4 p.m. on July 3, 2018. EMBED >More News Videos Action Cam video of water main break in Center City on July 3, 2018. EMBED >More News Videos Chopper 6 was over the major water main break in Center City on July 3, 2018. EMBED >More News Videos Drone 6 video of Center City water main break on July 3, 2018. EMBED >More News Videos See Action Cam video of the damage caused by the Center City water main break on July 3, 2018. EMBED >More News Videos Major water main break in Center City Philadelphia. Katherine Scott reports during Action News at 6:30am on July 3, 2018. Philly Water Department update on Center City main break during Action News at 6am on July 3, 2018. WPVI EMBED >More News Videos Major water main break in Center City. Katherine Scott reports during Action News at 5:30am on July 3, 2018. EMBED >More News Videos Center City streets flooded after water main break. Katherine Scott reports during Action News at 4:30 a.m. on July 3, 2018. CENTER CITY (WPVI) -- Many Center City residents awoke Tuesday to millions of gallons of water flowing down typically busy streets, with a huge water main burst to blame.What's left now is a muddy mess, a major inconvenience, and damage to a number of city blocks.The sounds of a massive cleanup effort underway echoed through the streets of Center City Tuesday - a bustling area of restaurants and shops known to many as Midtown Village.Cracked asphalt, crumbled concrete, mud and water. At the intersection of Juniper and Sansom streets lies a mess, and a headache for crews who have to now perform tedious work excavating while trying to avoid the other unilateral lines and pipes mixed in underground. "It's a two-fold focus. Getting properties back to where they need to be so they can be occupied. Businesses back in business. And the other part is to address the immediate issue of the break and figuring out, strategizing how we're going to proceed with the repair," said Philadelphia Water Department Commissioner Debra McCarty.It was at Juniper and Sansom streets where a 48-inch transmission main broke around 4 a.m. in the morning.An estimated 14-15 million gallons of water gushed into the streets. It took about three hours to shut down the water main. But by then a tidal wave of mud, water and debris had rushed into nearby basements.The Philadelphia Water Department says the intersection is likely to remain closed for weeks.At the moment, crews are mostly concentrating on cleaning up all the mud and debris left behind.Some of the businesses in the area, many of them restaurants, are looking at weeks before they can reopen. "All the restaurants that need to get back open, we are going to do our best to work with everyone quickly and get everything taken care of to do that," said Water Department spokesman John DiGiulio.General Manager Casey Snodgrass took us into the basement of the Brickwall Tavern, which opened just a month ago. "The safe was flipped over on its side. There was about a foot of water levels marked on all the boxes in the basement for storage," Snodgrass said. "Looks like it all came crashing through and then receded pretty fast. "The owner of nearby TIME bar and restaurant, Jason Evenchick, expects his cleanup to take weeks. "We have about three walk in boxes where we keep food or verge or beer and wine. They are all obviously totally submerged," Evenchick said. "All our refrigeration, all our food, food prep, dry storage - it's pretty much a total loss in the basement. "Holiday Inn was among the businesses that lost power. One hotel guest told us he had a long morning moving luggage down the stairs. "16 floors going up then 16 floors going down with all the luggage for five. So that will be my work out for the day, the week, the month," said Fredrick Campau of Montreal.The Philadelphia Water Department has claims adjusters on site. They're asking anyone impacted to document the damage to be eligible for assistance.They will have a tent at 13th and Sansom on Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to answer any questions.------<doc-sep>EMBED >More News Videos See Action Cam video of the damage caused by the Center City water main break on July 3, 2018. EMBED >More News Videos Chopper 6 was over the major water main break in Center City on July 3, 2018. EMBED >More News Videos Drone 6 video of Center City water main break on July 3, 2018. CENTER CITY (WPVI) -- Crews were hard at work in Center City Thursday cleaning up from that massive water main break, and trying to get businesses back up and running.A table was set up along 13th Street where businesses affected by the flooding were able to file claims.Meanwhile, workers from the Philadelphia Water Department, PECO and PGW were all on scene.Officials say the first job is making the area passable for pedestrians, then they can set about digging down to repair the broken pipe. "We need people to be safe. We need our workers to be safe. But we will do everything we can to make sure that businesses are able to get their customers to them," said Debra McCarty, Philadelphia Water Department Commissioner.Crews were hoping to have 13th Street accessible by day's end.But the water department did caution that this could take some time. It could take weeks just to get to the broken pipe, and the fix could take months.------<doc-sep>Follow CBSPHILLY Facebook Twitter PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A massive water main break in Center City sent millions of gallons of water gushing into the streets early Tuesday morning. Most of the water has receded, leaving a huge muddy mess behind. BREAKING: This is now the closest we’re allowed to the hole that burst around a broken water main in #CenterCity. That’s because steam from underground is shaking the ground. Work is being shut down for now, crews say, because it’s not safe https://t.co/S80CKeumx9 @CBSPhilly pic.twitter.com/DTl1x88WFD — Matt Petrillo (@MattPetrillo) July 4, 2018 The 48-inch water main break happened at Juniper and Sansom Streets, around 4 a.m. on Tuesday. An official with the city’s Water Department said Tuesday night that he expects the intersection of Juniper and Samson Street will be closed for a few months. Crews know where the broken main is but so far have not seen it because of debris. Philadelphia Water Department Commissioner Debra McCarty says about 14 to 15 million gallons of water gushed onto the streets, the equivalent of 25 Olympic-sized swimming pools. ROAD CLOSURES The water main break, built in the 1920’s, caused a mess for nearby businesses, flooding basements and causing a gridlock in the area. It currently has shut down Sansom Street from Broad to 13th, Juniper Street from Chestnut to Walnut, 13th from Locust to Chestnut, 12th from Chestnut to Locust and Walnut from 11th to Broad Street. HUGE WATER MAIN BREAK in #CenterCity encompassing some five blocks from 9th to Broad along Walnut & Sansom Sts. This is video from Sansom @CBSPhilly pic.twitter.com/3hTaj4tK08 — Trang Do (@TrangDoCBS3) July 3, 2018 “I started getting text messages around 6 a.m. from friends saying, ‘Sorry to hear about your business’ and I had no idea what was going on, so I ran downstairs and turned the news on and that’s when I saw the main had broken,” said Kurt Darhower, owner of Salon Ricochet. Kurt says his insurance should cover damage and he’s already has plans to keep his business running. “I’ve already had a couple of friends who own salons reach out to me to let me know if I need space that I can go and work out of their spaces,” said Darhower. “We feel extremely fortunate. We were an inch away from being completely flooded and devastated,” said Christopher Mullins, owner of McGillin’s Olde Ale House. Mullins says he’s grateful his business was spared. “When you see the war zone around us, it’s not pretty. The damage is unreal. We can’t even begin to imagine what it’s done to the buildings,” Mullins said. TRANSPORTATION The water main break is also impacting public transportation in the area. SEPTA bus routes 9, 12, 21, 23, 42, and 45 have been detoured. PATCO service was not affected. Rte 9,12,21,23,42,45: A number of buses are being detoured in Center City due to a water main break. See System Status for details. https://t.co/ZD9eGskG9b — SEPTA (@SEPTA) July 3, 2018 PECO says about 700 customers were impacted due to the water main break. Officials say crews will have to remove the water to find out what caused the break, start excavating the entire area and then only can they reopen the intersection. A tent will be set up to help customers on Thursday. “On Thursday… Public affairs staff and our customer field service staff will have a presence on site. We’ll put a tent up on 13th and Sansom and any customers we didn’t have a chance to meet today or any customers that have questions about what’s going on,” said John DiGiulio with the Philadelphia Water Department. “We’ll be there from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to address those issues.” “I’m going to imagine, the intersection here will be shut down at least until repairs are made. There is no timetable on that right now,” said DiGiulio. “We will have crews, we will have a presence. We will be here all throughout the day, likely tomorrow at least in the cleanup phase.” Officials tell CBS3 it could months to clean up the area completely.<doc-sep>A water main break has flooded Center City Philadelphia, stopping traffic and causing transit problems The break was reported around 4 a.m., and Philly’s water department said they had shut it down at around 7:30 a.m., according to a report from Philly.com. But the damage was already done. The break affected lanes from Locust to Chestnut streets and from Broad to 12th, according to the site. At 5:30 a.m., SEPTA officials sent out a notice warning travelers that bus routes 9, 12, 21, 23, 42 and 45 are being detoured today due to the flooding. The city’s two subway lines and Regional Rail are unaffected, according to SEPTA. The area was drying out around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, but several streets are still closed until further notice, including Sansom from Broad to 12th; Juniper, 12th, and 13th from Chestnut to Locust; and Walnut from 11th to Broad, according to 6abc. The city has not identified the cause of the 48-inch transmission main break.<doc-sep>
EMBED >More News Videos Action Cam video of water main break in Center City on July 3, 2018. EMBED >More News Videos Chopper 6 was over the major water main break in Center City on July 3, 2018. Philly Water Department update on Center City main break during Action News at 6am on July 3, 2018. WPVI EMBED >More News Videos Major water main break in Center City Philadelphia. Katherine Scott reports during Action News at 6:30am on July 3, 2018. Rte 9,12,21,23,42,45: A number of buses are being detoured in Center City due to a water main break. See System Status for details. https://t.co/ZD9eGskG9b — SEPTA (@SEPTA) July 3, 2018 EMBED >More News Videos Major water main break in Center City. Katherine Scott reports during Action News at 5:30am on July 3, 2018. EMBED >More News Videos Center City streets flooded after water main break. Katherine Scott reports during Action News at 4:30 a.m. on July 3, 2018. PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania -- Flooded streets are starting to dry out after an early-morning water main break in Center City Philadelphia, but the problems are far from over.The Philadelphia Water Department says a 48-inch transmission main broke in the area of Sansom and Juniper streets around 4 a.m. Streets in the area looked like raging rivers as water gushed through the area.Crews worked for hours to shut off valves and stopped the flow of water. The Philadelphia Water Department announced the main was shut down around 7:40 a.m.Officials say it took a lot of work to get it done. "Each one takes a few hundred turns, a couple of people need to be operating on it," said John DiGiulio of the Philadelphia Water Department.DiGiulio said it is too early to determine the cause of the break.However, he said it's possible the extreme heat could be partly to blame. He said customers could be using more water than usual, putting stress on the main.It will be days before it is all cleaned up, DiGiulio said.That gushing water has left behind a muddy mess and damaged streets. The city says the following streets will be closed until further notice:-Sansom from Broad to 12th-Juniper from Chestnut to Locust-13th from Locust to Chestnut-12th from Chestnut to Locust-Walnut from 11th to BroadCommuters are urged to avoid the area and find alternate routes.SEPTA has several bus detours in the area of the break.