“Something out of a movie”: Water main break causes road to buckle in Roxbury

BOSTON — A water main break in Roxbury flooded roads and caused Saint James St. to buckle Sunday morning.

“This is crazy,” said Meagan Hackett, of Roxbury. “It looks like the entire road just shifted!”

Boston fire officials said a 12-inch water main burst around 6:30 a.m. Sunday.

“Something out of a movie, that’s what it looks like,” said Elaine Rivera, of Roxbury. “It doesn’t even seem real.”

Rivera’s Chevy Malibu was one of several cars stuck on the street.

“I don’t know if my radiator is busted or not because there’s rocks wedged up underneath it,” said Rivera. “It’s my choice if I move it or not, but I don’t want to because there’s boulders and stuff under it, so I’m not going to chance it, I’m going to wait for them to come and tow it.”

The water main burst at Saint James St. causing rocks, dirt, debris and even pieces of the road to flow down on to Washington St.

Instead of serving up coffee, the owner of a Dunkin’ Donuts in the area spent his morning sweeping rocks out of his parking lot and cleaning up after his business flooded.

“This is nuts,” said Hackett. “They’re going to have to take out the whole road I think.”

Boston’s Water and Sewer Commission was still working to repair the water main hours after it burst. “BWSC crews continue working on St. James St. to repair main,” BWSC tweeted at 10:15 a.m.”Approximately 15 services are without water at this time. We apologize for the interruption of service.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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