ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — A water main broke into the River Ridge plaza in Asheville, spewing debris and impacting several businesses, including the Asheville Humane Thrift Store.
Caitlin Bingham, an employee at the Asheville Humane Thrift Store, said she was notified about the water break by a coworker.
“It was around 4:30 p.m. and I was in the back in the clothing area steaming clothes and my co-worker actually came back kind of excited and asked me where I had parked my car that day because I usually park right out front and she was worried for my vehicle. I told her I was not out front today and then she showed me a video of what was going on, so I headed out front to see for myself,” Bingham said.
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During the course of the water main break, there were extensive damages done to several vehicles.
Maia M., who chose to leave out their last name, was on the phone with Geico for nearly an hour due to a broken windshield from the water burst.
Fire officials and maintenance crews were quickly dispatched to the site.
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Clay Chandler, the public information officer for the City of Asheville Water Resources Department said that there were a number of reasons that this occurred.
“One is the topography – some parts of the city are way higher in elevation then others are. The second thing being a lot of our underground water infrastructure like the water main that broke today is older than 50 years old and it’s been in the ground for decades,” he said.
This break has left businesses nearby without water.
“I talked to the supervisor of the crew that’s there and he was on the scene earlier right after it happened and he did say that there’s some businesses are out of water in the area,” Chandler said.
The estimated time to repair the damage is yet to be determined.
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“It all depends. For example, this one, the break was fairly shallow, not very deep into the ground, just a couple of feet… It all depends on what part of town this is in, how deep the pipe is into the ground,” he said.
Until then, businesses like the Asheville Humane Thrift Store are preparing for the worst.
“We filled up our bucket just in case we wouldn’t have water. My boss went and bought a whole bunch of gallons of water just in case,” Bingham said.