TOLEDO, Ohio — A water main break in north Toledo caused dozens of cars, homes and streets to flood Monday morning.
"I opened the front door and I opened it up to all of this," Amy Wallace, who lives on North Erie Street, said while motioning to the mass of water around her home.
Wallace said in the 12 years she's lived in north Toledo, she hasn't experienced anything like the flood.
"The water is up to the ceiling in my basement and we've lost everything down there: furnace, hot water tank, washer dryer, personal items, computer," she said.
Homer's Cycles Inc., a business on Galena Street, was one of the many impacted by the water main break at the intersection of Galena and Chase streets.
"I've never seen water flowing like that," Homer's co-owner Sheila Mitchell said.
Officials have yet to determine what caused the water distribution line to burst.
Todd Saums, the manager of water distribution for the city of Toledo, said water main breaks are common, but the size of Monday's flooding is rare.
At the center of the chaos was an SUV that a woman and her kids had to be rescued from.
The driver could not see the hole because of the water covering the street and apparently drove into the hole.
"It basically creates its own hole but you can't see it because the water is so deep, so she drove through it thinking it was shallow," Saums said. "But little did she know, there was an 8-foot hole she was driving into."
The water is shut off and being cleared up and flooded cars are being towed away. But for some homeowners like Wallace, the cleanup is just starting.
"We're at a total loss and now I'm worried about foundation issues, mold, you name it," she said.
Residents in the north Toledo neighborhood near the break must boil their water for at least the next 48 hours, city officials said. The boil advisory affects about 1,700 residents, city crews said.