An OUC water main at Misty Oaks apartment lies broken and exposed after a torrent of water from a breached retention pond washed away pavement and the ground under it.
As the winds of Hurricane Ian began to die down on Thursday, an OUC Water Distribution crew responded to a water main break at an apartment complex off of West Colonial Drive near Pine Hills. The break occurred when a breach in a retention pond on the eastside of Misty Oaks apartments unleashed a torrent of rainwater that washed away pavement and the ground underneath it.
A breach in a retention pond sent a deluge of rainwater into Misty Oaks apartment early Thursday.
Resident Tarard Chester said he was in the ground floor apartment he shares with his grandmother when a loud noise woke him up at about 4 a.m. He said he looked out a window facing the retention pond and then ran to the door to brace it for the impact of rushing water.
“I tried to keep to keep it from coming through the door, but the water still got under it and into the apartment,” he said.
OUC sent a crew of water technicians to the site at about 11 a.m. and they stayed until they had completed a temporary repair that restored water service to the three apartment buildings impacted by the break. A new water main will be installed later when the washed-out areas are repaired.
“It was like a dam broke and the water just washed out anything in its path,” said Timmy Tillman, Lead Water Technician, who spearheaded the repair project.
