Broken Water Main Forces Evacuations
- Share via
A broken water main flooded Cranston streets, submerging cars to their windows and forcing more than 100 people from their homes. Rescuers used rafts to evacuate elderly residents. Authorities did not know what caused the 5 1/2-foot main to break shortly before noon, blowing a 15-foot hole in a city street. Muddy water gushed past homes and businesses for about a mile in this city of 76,000 before the main was shut off at 4 p.m. No injuries were reported. “We were driving down the road and I had to take my glasses off. I said to myself, ‘Am I hallucinating?’ ” said Lori Antonelli, who turned her car around and went home. A spokesman said the ruptured main caused a gas leak under a street. The gas was shut off.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
John Orr was a renowned fire investigator who was also a prolific arsonist, and whose thinly veiled novel helped to convict him. In this episode we hear from the fire captain who first suspected him—and from Orr himself.
Madison McGhee is joined by legendary Dateline host Josh Mankiewicz and esteemed L.A. Times Reporter Richard Winton as the three of them dive into all-things Menendez Brothers, the good, the bad, and the still unknown.
NPR climate editor Sadie Babits talks about why the media has long overlooked the climate crisis, and how that’s starting to change.
