Massive water main break damages homes with water and rocks in Co. Springs neighborhood

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) is working to repair a major water main break along Broadmoor Valley Road, that looked like a gushing geyser on Tuesday afternoon.

CSU says a water main break burst open just before 2:40 p.m. along the street, and they had a crew on scene shortly after. They say within 30 minutes they had the water turned off. The utility says 14 customers were left without water service as a result of the break.

In that time however, as the water was shot dozens of feet into the air, it was raining down upon a stretch of four homes along Woodbridge Drive, which runs parallel to Broadmoor Valley Road, down a rock-covered hill. You can see what one viewer captured in phone video below.

There, homeowners say they were dealt varying amounts of property damages, as the spectacle of spouting water doused their homes. One man was left with a flooded basement, as his home was in the direct line of where the water was landing. He says he could barely anything out his front of back windows as the water cascaded down his roof.

He says his gutters were overwhelmed, which funneled the water down the side of his house into basement window ducts, which then found its way inside. He says his sump-pump was not active, as the water pouring onto his back deck shorted the outlet it was plugged into.

The neighbor one door down, Bruce Elder, saw much more physical damage than water-damage.

His 1987 Camaro parked outside fell victim to the rocks and asphalt that were launched into the air from the water main break, which rained down on his home and driveway. Elder saw from his second floor windows that his American muscle had it's back windshield totally blown, while the front hood was littered with dents as if the car was left in a hailstorm.

Elder says rocks also reached the glass in his front door, shattering it as well.

He and two other neighbors KRDO13 spoke with Tuesday afternoon say they had talked with CSU personnel about filing claims for their property damage due to the main break.

Colorado Springs Police Department and CSU also confirmed to KRDO13 that a utility employee had been hit by a driver, as crews descended onto the street to begin work. It's unclear as to why or how that happened. That employee however was believed to be uninjured.

CSU says they're working to open the road at least partially by Wednesday morning, and would have crews working overnight to get service restored.