Updated at 5:57 p.m. Jan. 5, 2016:
A 50-year-old water main ruptured in North Park early Thursday, sending water surging over surrounding streets, flooding homes and tying up traffic over the course of a rainy morning and afternoon.
The torrent gushing out of the failed 30-inch cast iron pipe underneath North Park Community Park began inundating the surrounding neighborhood at about 4 a.m., according to the San Diego Public Utilities Department.
Due to the deluge, police shut down Idaho Street between Polk and University avenues, the latter thoroughfare between Idaho and Arizona streets, and Lincoln Avenue between Idaho and Hamilton streets.
Several homes and at least one apartment building wound up flooded to varying degrees, city spokesman Arian Collins said. The extent of the damage remained unclear as of early evening.
It took utility personnel about 90 minutes to get the overflow halted, Collins said.
Because the mid-1960s-era main that broke did not directly connect to meters, no one in the area was left without plumbing service, though some customers might have experienced reduced water pressure, according to Collins.
Crews labored through the day to patch the pipe amid off-and-on showers, and the soggy job was expected to continue through the night, he said.
As of 5 p.m., the only remaining road closure was at the intersection of Idaho Street and Polk Avenue.
The water main was expected to be repaired and the road crossing re- opened by late Friday morning, the spokesman said.
—City News Service