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Your support makes all the difference.A residential street was completely submerged in water after a water main burst.
At least 10ft of floodwater swept down Leabrook Road, in the market town of Wednesbury in the West Midlands.
One woman needed rescuing by emergency services as homes were evacuated and 17 cars left damaged.
Around 30 firefighters attended the scene as well as water rescue teams, police and paramedics.
Footage taken by onlookers shows gallons of water gushing from the water main, which is believed to have been damaged by workmen using a digger.
The water swamped an area spanning the size of around three football pitches as specialist teams battled to stop it spreading to a nearby electricity substation.
Hundreds of pupils from nearby schools were sent home early due to the lack of water on site.
Dave Baldwin, 44, who had filmed the incident, said boats were used to get residents to safety.
“When we got there someone else had already called the emergency services and they were already on the scene trying to stop the leak,” Mr Baldwin said. “The boat that was brought in by the emergency services were for the residents in the area, to get them to safety.
“There is a tram stop on the road and a lot of people park their cars on that road as they commute to Birmingham or Wolverhampton. There was a lot of damage to area in and around it, you can see in the footage a brand new Ford Focus was half flooded.”
Mr Baldwin added that he believed that a digger was responsible for the incident.
“You can see in the video a digger is next to the gushing pipe and people have told me it was the digger, it hit the pipe and it went off.”
West Midlands Fire Service said some houses and industrial premises had been affected and a number of vehicles had been left submerged.
Area Commander Ben Brook said: “It appears that there has been a significant rupture to a water main."
A spokesperson from South Staffs Water said: “When the water is back on, it may look a different colour to normal. Although the water may not look very nice, it’s not harmful to health and running the cold water tap in your kitchen will help to clear it.
“We are really sorry for any inconvenience caused. We are working to fix the burst as quickly as possible and would like to thank residents, businesses and motorists for their patience, while we get it fixed.”
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