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Residents complain about weekend water-main break and flooding; city says repair complete, cleanup continues
Summary
A Saturday water-main break flooded a block near Rutland and Opelika Boulevard, residents said; the public-works director said crews and divers completed the repair but restoration and cleanup continued and staff will follow up with additional resident notifications and hotline routing.
A Saturday water-main break left a Rutland Street block flooded over a long weekend and prompted public complaints at the March 26 commission meeting. Naomi Bridal, a resident who spoke in citizens forum, described multiple calls to hotlines with no timely response and said she had to wear boots to get from her home because the block remained flooded.
"I literally had to wear boots to get at my house to get into my car to get here tonight," Bridal said, telling the commission that residents, including elderly neighbors, were stranded by the standing water and frustrated by nonresponsive numbers and delays.
Interim City Manager told the commission staff had mobilized a contractor and that the repair would be completed the following morning. Harvey Austin, Public Works director, said the break occurred on one of the older main lines near the water plant; crews could not shut the line off because shutting it would have disrupted water service citywide. "The flow of water was so great that we could not pump it anywhere," Austin said, explaining that divers had to perform the repair while water continued to flow and that pumping and street restoration were ongoing.
Austin told commissioners the physical repair was complete during the meeting and that crews were working on cleanup and restoration; he said the cost at that time was below $25,000. The interim manager said she would have staff reissue resident notices and check routing of after-hours and nonemergency calls to ensure residents reach the correct on-call contacts.
Commissioners asked for a status update to be provided the same night and again after final restoration; Commissioner Santiago pressed for improved internal notification so elected officials and residents receive earlier notice when outages or major repairs occur.
What the city will do next: the manager said she will ask staff to provide a written summary (repair timeline and costs), confirm the after-hours phone routing, reissue street notices to impacted residents and return to the commission with a status update once restoration is complete.
