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Busted water main blocks 98 traffic

James Skipper/Midway Fire District Water spews from a broken water pipe from underneath a parking lot near U.S. Highway 98 and Abercrombie Road in the Midway area on Monday, May 25. Water shot 60 feet into the air as electrical power lines arched in a surge of water flooding U.S. Highway 98 in Midway from 6 p.m. until after 9:30 p.m. on Memorial Day.

Traffic was detoured through subdivisions, and emergency crews from surrounding communities responded while Midway Water System worked on capping the broken water main and Gulf Power worked to pull the downed line out of the water.

Midway Fire District Chief Jonathan Kanzigg said the power lines came down right outside the district's Abercrombie Street fire station.

"The reports show a power line came down first," Kanzigg said. "The power line hit the stop sign at Abercrombie, and the electricity went through the sign and exploded a 12-inch water main. That sent water shooting into the air about 60 feet high, according to the report. And it flooded U.S. 98, with an arching, sparking power line in the middle of the water."

Midway Fire District had an engine and battalion chief on the scene from 6 p.m. until just after 9:30 p.m., along with emergency response teams from surrounding communities and Gulf Power and Midway Water System crews.

Phil Jowers, Utility Director for Midway water System, said fewer than 500 homes were without water for less than an hour.

"We are not sure exactly how many homes it affected, but out preliminary reports show just less than 500," Jowers said. "We received our first call about 7:15 p.m., and once we got a crew out there we worked to resolve the problem of members not having water by isolating the problem and doing a backfeed.

"We resolved the problem and recharged in about 45 minutes for those homes without any water. It was sooner for the homes that simply had low water pressure."

He said the Midway Water System issued a boil order for the area on Tuesday.

"It (was) only precautionary," Jowers said.

The boil order, as of press time, included homes and businesses from East Bay Boulevard to the Reserve Apartments to the east, and the Community Life Center to the west - and Woodlawn Beach Middle School.

Jowers said U.S. 98 asphalt was not damaged, but the parking lot of the former lounge at the corner of U.S. 98 and Abercrombie had a 10-by-12- foot area damaged from the water exploding from underneath the parking area.