Water Main Break Closes Road, Floods Home

Joe A. and his family were asleep about 6 a.m. Friday when police officers started pounding on their door.

"I woke up and I could hear water," said Joe, who asked that his last name not be used. "My wife went down and she screamed. She was freaking out."

Knee-high water in your living room will do that.

A 12-inch water main in front of their Drake Road house broke early this morning, sending a stream of water down their sloping driveway and into the garage, basement and main floor of their bi-level home.

Drake Road remains closed between Bear Creek and Deer Path while crews from the Cleveland Division of Water repair the line.

John Goersmeyer, spokesman for the Water Department, said 90 to 100 homes were without water after the break, which was reported about 5:45 a.m.

He said crews were hoping to have the repairs to the line done, and water service restored, later Friday afternoon.

There is no boil alert, Goersmeyer said.

But the flood of water has left Joe and his family temporarily homeless and not even sure where they will sleep tonight.

"Nobody can live in it," he said. "It stinks in there."

Joe said he looked outside this morning and saw his van half-submerged in water in the driveway. He ran outside, still in his pajamas, and moved the vehicle to higher ground.

"I was sitting in water," he said. "There's still water in the ashtray."

Another car in the garage was almost completely covered with water, he said. In the house, water was knee-high in the living room and even deeper in the basement, where the family's electronics, games and tools were kept.

Floors and carpets are a muddy mess, as is the driveway.

Goersmeyer said Cleveland has a claims process the family can follow to be reimbursed for damages.

He said the Water Department helped pump the water out of his house and will assist the family in filing the claim with Cleveland's Law Department.

UPDATE: Drake Road was reopened to traffic Friday evening.