UPDATE (Sunday, March 17 at 1:15 p.m.) — Portland Water Bureau officials continue to work Sunday on excavating and replacing a broken water main which flooded the Alberta neighborhood in Northeast Portland the day before.
A related power outage, at its peak, left nearly 12,000 Pacific Power customers without electricity.
Pacific Power restored service to most homes in the Alberta neighborhood Saturday night around 7 p.m.
Flood water closed several streets between Northeast 21st and 30th avenues, and Alameda to Northeast Rosa Parks Way, according to Portland Fire and Rescue. City officials advised people to avoid the area and stay out of the water Saturday while crews worked to stem the flow of water.
People stand next to flood waters in the Alberta neighborhood of Portland, Ore., Saturday, March 16, 2019. A water main break caused millions of gallons of water to rush the streets of the Northeast Portland neighborhood.
Meerah Powell / OPB
Rhetta Drennan, public information officer with the Portland Water Bureau, said the break occurred at about 11:30 a.m. Saturday just east of Northeast 23rd Avenue and Skidmore Street. She said crews were on-site to shut off the main Saturday afternoon.
"The [water] line was a 30-inch cast iron main that was installed in 1915," Drennan said. "Right now, we know there have been at least 10 houses that have been evacuated. There's water in some of the basements and we know there is electricity off in some of the blocks here."
Drennan said crews will not know the cause of the main break until it can be evaluated. That won't happen until the water is shut off. Water was still flowing from the break Sunday morning, according to the Portland Water Bureau.
"We have continued to make gains against water flow, but more is needed. The work will take time," said Maintenance and Construction Director Ty Kovatch in a press release.
Officials say the work to excavate the broken 30-inch transmission pipe is expected to last into early next week. Because the pipe is a transmission line, not a service line, officials say no residents are without water.
They did advise that some sediment may be visible in residents' tap water, but that it's not harmful to anyone's health. Officials recommend flushing all of your taps for at least 2 minutes until the water runs clear.
As for the roads where the flooding occurred, the Portland Bureau of Transportation said it will have to rebuild streets in the area of Skidmore and 23rd. Officials are asking people to avoid the area for now.