GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — "I looked outdoors, and it was just, it's like Noah's Ark."
That was the scene that Tom Schurino found outside his home on Allerton Avenue in southeast Grand Rapids early Thursday morning.
Schurino is one of hundreds of Grand Rapids residents without water Thursday evening following a water main break at the corner of Philadelphia Avenue SE and Adams Street SE.
Those affected are now under a boil water advisory as a result of repair work being done to fix the lines.
Around 200 homes, officials estimated, don't have water service and will need to boil their water once their service is restored.
You can find a map of the affected area here.
The break happened around 3:15 a.m. Thursday in the area of Adams Street SE and Philadelphia Avenue SE.
"I thought it was raining, and so I got up, I didn't see any rain, and I thought it was our neighbor's air conditioner," Schurino said. "So, went back to bed, and about 10 minutes later we got a phone call from our neighbor, [they] said, 'You better go look at your basement, there's a flood.'"
When 13 ON YOUR SIDE caught up with Schurino on Philadelphia Ave., one street over from his home, the evidence of what had happened was everywhere.
Cars underwater earlier in the day, mud blanketing the street and even a bumper ripped off a car were all signs of the flood from the main break that had rushed down the hill.
On Schurino's street, he said it wasn't much better.
"Logs were floating by through our front yard, messing up the cars, you know, and everything," Schurino said.
"The carpeting is all- that's all wrecked, it's all soaked," he said, describing the scene in his own basement. "And the laundry room is all full of dirt. The water was coming in through a side vent. It's just awful in there. We didn't want to touch it yet until the estimator comes over and gives us an estimate of cleaning it up."
Another Grand Rapids resident, Larry Gibbs said the water in his basement was up to his knees.
"It was about knee high. It was about to my calf. It was pulling so hard. When I actually hit the corner and actually started to drive through the water, it started to come through the bottom of the door, " said Gibbs.
Gibbs also said the city responded immediately to the water main break but he wants clean up to be their top priority.
"The city's actually been pretty much on it. I mean, I didn't go to bed until I think, eight in the morning and then woke up at 10 to the city, pounding at the door, telling me they wanted to come inside and take a look at things. I just hope it gets taken care of. I'm hoping the city doesn't leave us stranded," said Gibbs.
Grand Rapids Water System Manager Wayne Jernberg said crews faced issues turning off the valves to the transmission main, which he said is "old infrastructure."
Additionally, when making his estimates, Jernberg said this water main break is different from the one Grand Rapids saw in March. Therefore, their approach is more focused on those directly affected.
He said a water main break of this size doesn't warrant a water distribution site.
"It's probably going to take a day or two to get the repair made," Jernberg told reporters. "And then, once the repairs made, then you got to go through the sample collection process like we did in the previous case [in March]."
The excess water was pumped out of the area after crews turned the water off Thursday morning.
After the repairs are made, the city will then have to flush the system once the water pressure is restored before sampling of the water can begin. The advisory will be lifted after several samples show there is no harmful bacteria in the water supply. This usually takes about two days to complete.
But as of Thursday morning, crews hadn't been able to determine exactly what caused this to happen and the cause remained under investigation.
"You know, older infrastructure like this - it could be a crack around on a pipe, it could be a longitudinal split," Jernberg theorized. "We've seen situations where top sections of pipe have completely blown off as well. So, at this point, we don't know."
And for Schurino, Gibbs and many neighbors, it's a long road of cleanup ahead.
"That's all we've been doing is taking pictures and waiting for the estimator to come by," Schurino said. "Then we'll start the clean up."
Jernberg urged people to stay away from the intersection where the main break occurred and, for those affected, to know how to contact risk management, their attorneys and their insurance to ensure they have the resources to navigate the situation.
This incident will not affect residents' water bills, according to Jernberg.
The intersection of Philadelphia Avenue SE and Adams Street SE is expected to be shut down for about a week. Drivers are asked to find another route.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Watch 13 ON YOUR SIDE for free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, and on your phone.