Water from a broken water main greeted some residents of a Montgomery County townhome community at their doors.
The 8-inch main burst early Monday morning, causing water to flow and flow into the parking lot on Gold Kettle Drive in Gaithersburg. Some residents say it felt like an earthquake.
"This one was shaking the house, shaking the street... [It] seemed as though one of those little tremors that we had in the past," said resident Sean Bergesen.
A nearby drain couldn't handle it all. The water came up to the bottom of some cars in the parking lot and came very close to the front step of some homes.
Some water dripped through the window well outside Bergesen's home. But he says this isn't the first time he's had to deal with water in his home. He told News4's transportation reporter Adam Tuss this is the third or fourth water main break in 10 years.
"...[G]ot the wet vac out and had been doing that for three hours. There is a drain down there, but I already ripped dry wall off the wall, trying to keep everything from getting moldy."
But is it the swing in temperatures or the sustained cold that's to blame?
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WSSC Spokesman Jerry Irvine explained, "Sustained cold, as everyone knows we have had a stretch of cold weather. That keeps the water running through the pipes cold, and that will cause pipes to burst."
WSSC says Wednesday was actually their busiest day of the year -- 27 broken mains on that day alone.
Crews hope to have the Gold Kettle Drive water main repaired by this afternoon.
