Long Island Town Flooded, Homes Evacuated Following Water Main Break

OCEANSIDE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Streets were under water and homes have been evacuated following a massive water main break in Oceanside on Long Island.

"One room, totally flooded. So it's another cleanup, once after Irene, Sandy, and now," Eric Morales said.

As of 11 p.m. the water had receded, but it was a situation that Morales and his Pearl Street neighbors know all too well. Their neighborhood became flooded again.

Oceanside Fire Department officials said that a 12-inch main broke at the corner of Pearl Street and River Avenue at about 4 p.m. Monday, CBS2's Tracee Carrasco reported.

Gas and electricity had to be shut off in much of the area. The area was flooded with about three feet of water and water flooded into some homes, prompting some residents to evacuate.

About 30 homes were without water, but it has since been restored to all but 10.

"It was a lot of water. It was getting into the houses, getting into garages. We had to go into several houses and evacuate people," Oceanside Fire Department Chief John Madden said.

Morales' wife and their three dogs had to be rescued by firefighters in an inflatable boat as the gushing water filled their home.

"She's pretty shaken up. It's a lot to go through, everything happened so fast," he said.

Other residents waded through deep waters to get out. The fire department told CBS2 that six homes in total were damaged by flooding.

Diane Nystrom said she's lucky the water only flooded her yard.

"It sounded like a large drilling noise, and it just shook the house. We came outside it was fine and then later on we came out and there was water everywhere. It was like Hurricane Sandy all over again," she said.

Cars parked along the street also flooded. Tamer Seoud parked his red 2015 Mercedes Benz on the street in the morning to catch a train into the city -- he had no idea what he would return to.

"I've been doing this for the past nine years I would say. It never crossed my mind that I would see this scene," he said.

Seoud's car was parked right next to the water main. The pavement around it buckled, his car was in danger of falling through the collapsing street and a tow truck had to pull it out.

"I will never park my car here again," he said.

Crews will be working throughout the evening to clean up the mess and restore power.