(CNN) — Streets turned into rivers and parts of UCLA turned into lakes after a massive water main break sent 8 to 10 million gallons of water gushing through parts of Los Angeles.
The deluge was so massive that swift-water rescue crews with boats had to ferry away several stranded people.
At least three motorists were rescued from underground parking garages where stairwells had turned into raging waterfalls.
Dozens of vehicles were partly submerged, UCLA said. At least two of the inundated garages belong to the university.
And while authorities managed to stop the water hemorrhage by Tuesday night, the situation might not clear until later Wednesday.
“I’d like to tell you we’d have it fixed by the morning, but I don’t think that’s really possible,” James McDaniel of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said Tuesday night.
He said crews will work through the night, trying to dewater the massive crater caused by the explosion.
Much of UCLA deluged
The UCLA campus, on the city’s west side, suffered much of the damage.
The flooding covered the court of Pauley Pavilion, home to the Bruins’ basketball, volleyball and women’s gymnastics teams. The facility had just gone through a multi-million-dollar renovation two years ago.
“Unfortunately, Pauley Pavilion took quite a bit of water,” Chancellor Gene Block told reporters Tuesday night. “It’s painful.”
At least one outdoor athletic stadium turned into an island of grass surrounded by a sea of murky brown water.
But UCLA academic and residence halls were not affected, the university said, and classes will continue Wednesday.
Read more…Water main break floods Sunset Boulevard, UCLA campus
