SAN ANTONIO — Two major water main breaks wreaked havoc on business owners and homeowners this week.
In a Silver Oaks Community Park subdivision, a trickle on Tuesday turned into a raging river by Thursday.
“This morning at 4:30, I am getting ready to go to work and I hear what sounds like a car running into my house or an explosion,” said Linda Lloyd. “Water started seeping through my home, my walls. I started bringing towels to soak it up. One of the workers here told me today that they didn’t have any calls. They should have been passed the call immediately and it would have been a much easier problem to fix. Now, we have a swimming pool.”
Lloyd says she reported the leak to San Antonio Water System (SAWS) on Tuesday.
“We called, we sent emails,” she said. “I mean, what am I supposed to do? We can’t repair it!”
Rodney Hanson shares a property line with Lloyd. The Vietnam veteran says he is left with a big mess and a bigger bill.
“We have water damage inside,” said Hanson. “They are going to have to go in tomorrow and take out all the baseboards, put sheetrock up about two feet on all the walls in every room, then the floors are going to have to come out. The floors have only been in there for one year, so they are brand new. This is all at our expense, insurance won’t cover a dime.”
Meanwhile on Broadway Boulevard near Brackenridge Avenue, a furniture store is dealing with a different type of damage: lost revenue.
Mod Pad opened on Monday for a big Labor Day sale. However, owner Michael Kelley says a water main break cut off all his customers.
“I saw a water geyser shooting up in the middle of the road and I was like, ‘What the hell is going on?’” Kelley said.
Labor Day is typically one of Kelley’s busiest days of the year for foot traffic. Mod Pad, which is open noon to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday, is full of rare and unique finds.
“We are extending our Labor Day sale, which is now the ‘Broken Water Main sale,”' he laughed.
According to a SAWS spokesperson, one lane in front of Mod Pad will remain closed over the weekend for an asphalt restoration project.
As for Lloyd, she wants SAWS to cover the cost of damage.
“Should this really be our expense?” she asked. “Did we have control over this? My control was reporting this. I wanted action; nobody took action. So now, they are telling us it’s our responsibility? Hell no!”
We’re told the water main break on Oakdale Park was initially a Priority 3 call, which can take 1 to 2 weeks to fix. On Thursday, it was bumped up to a Priority 1 call allowing for immediate repairs.
KENS 5 asked the city's water provider if they will cover the cost of damage for the impacted homes. As of this publication, we are waiting to hear back.