Water, water everywhere: UCLA cleans up from main break
LOS ANGELES — Authorities were assessing the damage Wednesday after a 93-year-old water main broke near the campus of the University of California-Los Angeles, sending a torrent raging through parking structures and athletic facilities.
The 30-inch pipe's rupture spewed water 30-feet into the air Tuesday afternoon, sending an estimated 8 million gallons roaring onto roads and campus in the midst of a historic drought.
No injuries were reported from the flooding at UCLA, and many students used the occasion to wade down steps that became waterfalls. Some broke out floats and were pulled through the accumulated water.
Patrick Huggins and Mattahew Bamberger, 18-year-old residents of nearby Westwood, shot video of themselves splashing in water up to their thighs on the school's practice putting green.
"I thought this is a good day for a little dip," Huggins said.
Some of the water poured onto the basketball court and flooded the locker rooms at Pauley Pavilion, UCLA's iconic athletic facility that recently underwent a $132 million renovation.
The Wooden Center, which has training facilities for students, and the J.D. Morgan Center, which houses the school's sports trophies, Hall of Fame and athletics offices, also were damaged.
"It's painful. It's painful," UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said of the damage to Pauley. "It's a beautiful structure. It's of course a symbolic structure for this entire campus."
Many of the campus' other most famous buildings, such as Royce Hall and Powell Library, are perched well above the flooding.
Los Angeles City Fire Department spokesman Jamie Moore told NBC4-TV that crews tried to divert up to 2 feet of water that raced into parking structures into storm drains. Swift-water rescue teams were dispatched, but no rescues were reported.
The break occurred about 3:30 p.m. on Sunset Boulevard, a key artery on the city's tony west side.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted that the broken line dated to 1921.
The cause of the break was under investigation.
Jim McDaniel, with the Department of Water and Power, said there was no "magic technology" to determine when a new line is needed. "Every city that has aging infrastructure has issues like this, and we're no exception."
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Contributing: Associated Press
