College Houses and the large apartment complexes in the area did not report an impact to water pressure or flooding in their buildings.
Credit: Eric ZengA water main break near Fresh Grocer caused flooding on 40th and Walnut streets Monday evening.
The break was located at 40th and Sansom streets and occurred at about 8 p.m., Division of Public Safety Director of Operations Kathleen Shields Anderson wrote in an email.
Water rushed through the roads and submerged parts of the sidewalk near the intersection of 40th and Walnut streets. As of 12:36 a.m., the streets continued to have elevated levels of water. 40th Street was still closed off from Sansom to Walnut streets.
College senior Rohith Thaiparambil said he was walking back from the 40th Street SEPTA station around 7:55 p.m. when he saw that police had blocked off part of the road and that water was flooding onto the sidewalk.
“I got a bit closer, and I saw a manhole in the middle of the street that had water gushing out of it,” he said. “[The water] was going underneath the cars and leaking a bit onto the sidewalk making it hard for people to pass.”
However, he said he could still walk on the sidewalks because the water flooded and receded from the sidewalk in waves. He said the manhole was right outside the Terakawa restaurant on 40th Street and that some cars tires were submerged.
The Philadelphia Water Department has responded to the incident and shut off the water, Anderson said.
Anderson added that College Houses and the apartment complexes in the area did not report an impact on water pressure or flooding in their buildings.
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