Residents of Five Buildings on West Broadway Evacuated

An aging water main burst in Lower Manhattan early Friday, flooding about 15 buildings, causing evacuations and closing streets within a three block radius.

The 12-inch main broke at the intersection of West Broadway and Duane Street around 2:30 a.m. Friday. The water was up to 4 feet deep in some buildings at the height of the flood. It gushed for about three hours, and continued to trickle as workers dug up the street , The Associated Press reports.

Meanwhile, residents of five buildings on West Broadway were evacuated as the geyser ripped up the intersection of Duane St. and West Broadway and sent water gushing through a two block radius , New York Daily News reports.

However, a uthorities were able to shut off the 12" water main around 5 a.m. and start pumping water out of the flooded buildings—most of them commercial, according to WABC 7 , which adds, "One building, a telecommunications facility at 60 Hudson Street, had four feet of water in the basement." , Gothamist reports.