Crews early Thursday finished repairing a ruptured water line that sent muddy flows coursing through a Southcrest neighborhood, but the cleanup work was far from done.

The broken cast-iron pipe began inundating the 1100 block of South 36th Street about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, forcing evacuations, flooding several homes and causing a sinkhole that swallowed a parked car, according to police and the San Diego Water Department.

Though the pipe was repaired shortly before 5 a.m. today, crews anticipated it would take hours longer to repair the roadway and clean up the area, CW 6 News reported.

Muddy water flowed into two houses and a multi-residence complex, SDWD
spokesman Arian Collins said. Officers cleared everyone from the homes and from an elementary school across the street.

Shortly after the flooding began, an unoccupied sedan parked near the
failed 16-inch underground slid into the resulting sinkhole, front-end first,
according to Collins.

The mishap left dozens of homes between National Avenue and E Street without water service overnight. Gas service near the site of the main break
was also shut off as a safety precaution. Utility service was later restored.