Water gushes from broken tank, floods Lexington neighborhood

Water cascaded from a large broken water tank into yards in a Lexington neighborhood Saturday morning.

The tank is between York and Eddie streets near Loudon Avenue, and water was gushing from the top of the tank on two sides, from about 25 feet above the ground.

The gush began shortly before 10 a.m. Saturday morning. Ben Hudson, who was staying with his girlfriend on York Street, said they were awakened by the sirens of police and fire trucks converging on the street.

Kentucky American Water, which also responded with the Lexington Fire and Police departments, shut off the flow of water around 11:30 a.m. The tank will be drained and out of service until the utility determines what caused the break.

Ben Ritzi, a technician with Kentucky American Water, said that a tank valve stem had broken in the tank; a tank pump overloaded as well. Susan Lancho, a communications manager with Kentucky American Water, said that no customers’ water service will be affected by the tank overflow.

“Tanks are taken out of service when we perform maintenance/painting on them without interruption to service, so taking this one out of service now is done similarly,” she wrote in an email.

At one point, Lexington Fire Major Matt Galati said it looked like the Eddie Street side of the tank might be buckling. The water pouring out was more substantial on that side, and water was flooding into yards along Eddie Street. In some cases, there was enough water for trash cans and other items to begin floating.

Officials advised some residents to evacuate their homes, and neighbors were going door-to-door to help those with flooded yards.

This story was originally published January 20, 2018 at 11:40 AM with the headline "Water gushes from broken tank, floods Lexington neighborhood."