I glanced out the front window as I was picking up the toys scattered around the living room. A muddy stream of water was running down the street. “Hmmm,” I thought to myself. “They must be flushing out the hydrants.” But then the stream grew wider, and I grew curiouser. Shoving my feet into my shoes, I stepped outside. Water was not gushing out from a hydrant. It was gushing up from the ground and the whole street was quickly filling up with water. Neighbors were standing out on their lawns, trying to call someone who would come fix what was broken. Those who were not on the phone were in the water with rakes in their hands, clearing the sewer drains from fallen leaves. The school bus arrived and drove slowly through the water, causing waves to lap up people’s driveways.
And the water kept gushing up from the ground.
I had to go pick up the girls, so I walked away from the gushing water and toward the school. I could hear people yelling at cars to turn around. The water was getting way too deep. Just a few minutes later a police car arrived. The officer blocked off the street and yelled a cheerful greeting to the girls as we walked home. A fire truck soon pulled up. The neighbors, police officers and firemen all stood around and watched helplessly as the water shot out of the ground. The muddy swirls were mesmerizing. There was nothing left to do but wait.
Finally, the water company arrived. They had to shut off the water slowly so that no other water mains would burst. Someone advised me to go fill up buckets with water while I still could so that we could flush the toilets when the water went off completely. The girls and I went inside and filled up buckets and even a couple of pots. It was kind of like telling someone to go and boil water when a baby is about to be born…it occupies one’s time but in the end is unnecessary. The water was contaminated so we couldn’t use it for anything but flushing the toilet, but we weren’t without water for long. The water company worked well into the night, keeping me awake with the generators, trucks and bright lights, but having the water back on in the morning was well worth a little lost sleep.
You live on a beautiful street! Even with the river running through it. =) Did you ever find out what was broken? This mystery drew me in!! =)
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Yes, it was a broken water main! Did I forget to put that in my post? I was working on it really late last night, and my brain turns off around 9:00!
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"but having the water back on in the morning was well worth a little lost sleep." Yep, yep. Water's the most essential element, can't live without it.
It is hard to turn on the faucet automatically, and then nothing comes out! We take it for granted.
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Holy cow. I guess you could say something was broken. Glad it wasn't directly connected to your house. Imagine the water bill.
No kidding! I had that thought, too!
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Wow, sounds like you had a big adventure!
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Yes, it was!
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I remember when ours busted last year. We were under a boil advisory for several days — no fun.
Had to stop in when I saw you at Mama Kat's! Have a great weekk!
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We are under a boil order, too. It ends at midnight tonight…I am counting the hours!
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That would have fascinated me to no end as a kid! I bet your girls will remember this forever 🙂 too bad it was contaminated so it couldn't be used for watering or something, though 🙁
That would have fascinated me to no end as a kid! I bet your girls will remember this forever 🙂 too bad it was contaminated so it couldn't be used for watering or something, though 🙁
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It just was muddy. I'm sure we can dump it in the garden!
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Interesting day for your girls! 🙂 … Regardless of the rain you live in such a beautiful place… it reminded me of my streets when I lived in Wisconsin -sigh- I am getting nostalgic now!
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Thank you! Yes, Illinois is very much like Wisconsin! But we actually didn't have any rain. It was an underground pipe that broke.
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I don't know why I wrote rain… I totally meant flood!…. my wires got crossed! LOL! I did read the whole thing! 😉
My recent post ThuRsday – Reminder, gReatfulness and Recipe!
That makes much more sense! And thanks for replying back…I often wonder if people even see my replies! I'll be over tomorrow to link up!
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That makes two of us! I often wonder the same thing! LOL! … I receive notifications just because I have Intense Debate as well… I wonder about those who don't … they would have to go back to the post and check if there are any replies… I wonder if anyone does… 😉 I'll be very happy to see you there tomorrow 😉
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Good story. You're lucky it was something the city was responsible for. Woe unto you if it's between the main and your house!
So true…we've had problems with tree roots between our house and the main!
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Glad it all turned out good in the end. Just imagine how those people feel who have lived through the flooding of their homes. Glad you saved the water too!
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Oh, I know what you mean! Our basement has flooded before, and I can't imagine having the rest of the house under water!
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I heard about this from your neighbor across the street. His joke was that ducks from as far away as three towns over came to bathe in your town's finest water. 🙂
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That neighbor of mine…so funny! 😉
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wow hehehe it would have been nice to splash in it right? hehehe in relation to this, in our apartment just this morning, they shut off the elevators and the water pipe as well because i think the people living in the apartment above us must have left their faucet on in the sink and left their house so the water gushed out and ran freely throughout the stairs and the elevators. have a great day! visiting from MMK writier's workshop.
Oh, wow, that sounds awful! I hope you're surviving!
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Wow- that's crazy! Glad they were able to fix it quickly!
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Me, too! And I'm relieved that now the boil order is over, too. That was a big pain in the you know where!
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Oh no! How crazy!
The girls are too cute, though! 🙂
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Thanks! My girls really had fun looking at all that water!
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Thank goodness! And how fortuitous that you had a roving reporter right there to provide coverage!
Great story! Glad everyone is ok!
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