Henrico residents, businesses pick up the pieces following water main break
HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WWBT) - A major headache of a situation in Henrico county persists after a water main break flooded several businesses and homes in the Lakeside and Laurel area Monday.
Many residents and businesses are picking up the pieces, even over 24 hours later. Disaster response crews with Servpro are cleaning up the excess water and damage.
“I think the water was going for four hours before they could actually stop it,” owner of Rock It Sports Matt Murrer said.
According to Henrico County’s Department of Public Utilities, a contractor hit a 12-inch main around 2:30 Monday afternoon on Oakview Ave.
“I’ve never witnessed anything like that before,” resident Yvonne Pabe said about her neighbor’s yard. “When I came out, her whole yard was flooded, and it looked like it was a lake in her whole yard.”
Pabe says it’s been one thing after another. She has been unable to do her job because of the issue, which is remote work from home.
“We had no water. For a couple of hours and we couldn’t take showers or anything...Now, this morning, my internet’s down,” Pabe said. “Myself and my neighbor both have water under our houses now.”
Rock It Sports will be out of commission for the next week or so due to the flooding.
“We had to cancel camps for this week. We have two more camps coming up, so we’ll offer either a refund or they can jump into another camp,” Murrer said.
Luckily, Henrico County is looking for a space to hold those camps. Jason Elkin, Owner of Elkin Sports Performance, says his turf is likely ruined.
“It’s heartbreaking to see everything you’ve worked so hard for,” he said. “But once we called the county, they’re doing everything they could to help ease the situation to their best ability.”
Elkin says he’s grateful for Servpro relief crews and the county who’ve stepped in. He says many people have it much worse, and he feels the situation will be resolved.
“Adapt and overcome, just like you would in any athletic competition,” Elkin said. “You get down a little bit. You got to figure it out and really just keep on moving forward.”
All week, Servpro will help businesses repair what needs fixing so they can fully reopen.
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