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Massive Water Main Break Shoots Water Onto Staten Island Home

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A massive water main break soaked a home on Staten Island.

It happened just before 11 a.m. Wednesday near 34 Beebe Street.

Chopper 2 was over the scene as water drenched the home in the Todt Hill neighborhood.

As CBS2's Tony Aeillo reported, Juliet the cat was curled up in the sun room, where Rhonda Scublinky had been enjoying a cup of coffee.

"All of a sudden, it was a big bang. It kept hitting and kept hitting, the water kept hitting the glass and broke it," she told Aeillo.

The sun room window, along with another on the side of the house, cracked under the force.

"Unbelievable, it's like a tsunami," Scublinksy said.

"A geyser, a rush of water," neighbor Bonnie Fritz said. "It just went higher and higher, over the top of the house."

"Water shooting about – cascading 20-30 feet into the air. Under very heavy pressure," FDNY Chief David Maj said. "Cascading into the house, doing some damage."

The water then followed the path of least resistance downhill and into neighbors' backyards, washing leaves and sticky muck onto patios.

"In the back all over. And really this is something very, very scary," said neighbor Felita Russo.

She felt lucky only a little water got into her basement.

"We were concerned initially about whether or not the street would be undermined, but right now looks like we're in good shape," Maj said.

The water shot out of the broken pipe for more than an hour before city crews were able to arrive, locate and access the emergency shut off.

One of the homes that was blasted Wednesday had been damaged by a fire last Christmas Eve. The homeowner just moved back in April.

The Department of Environmental Protection is investigating the cause of the water main break. Water service will be shut off to 15 homes while repairs are made.

As 101 WINS' Andrew Falzon reported, there were four water main breaks Wednesday on Staten Island. The others happened on Circle Road, Oxford Place and Longview Road.

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