Early this morning, Cleveland's West Side residents near the Cleveland-Lakewood border experienced a significant water main break, resulting in a street closure and urgent rescue. Cleveland Water Department crews were dispatched to address the 16-inch water main rupture around 4 a.m. at the W. 114th Street and Madison Avenue intersection, as confirmed to Cleveland19. The site of the break is situated just west of a railroad underpass.
Compounding the break's effect, morning commuters found that Madison Avenue had been shut down between W. 112th Street and Berea Road, prompting police to advise travelers to use Western Avenue as an alternative route. Despite the water's extensive spread by the railroad bridge, no boil advisories or alerts were issued, bearing some semblance of reassurance amidst the chaos of the submersion.
In a dramatic turn amidst rising waters, the Cleveland Division of Fire dispatched a rescue squad to aid a woman stranded in her car, just moments away from being consumed by the burgeoning flood. "Blew up their banana boat, put on wet suits and walked out to the car," were the actions taken by firefighters, as FOX8 reported, detailing the rescue mission that thankfully culminated in the safe retrieval of the driver.
Throughout the ordeal, Cleveland Division of Water crews were tenaciously working to repair the broken main, laboring through the morning, with ongoing efforts reported by a spokeswoman as late as 11 a.m. Submerged to several feet of water, Madison Avenue's underpass saw WKYC Channel 3 capturing the scene, presenting an image of the city trying to recover from nature's unexpected disposition, according to Cleveland.com. Additionally, Cleveland firefighters employed an inflatable raft to extract another driver, reinforcing the community's reliance on its first responders when the infrastructure fails.
