Water rushed down West Hollywood streets like raging river rapids Thursday after a 36-inch-wide pipe broke on the Sunset Strip, opening sinkholes, flooding garages and closing several roads as crews shut valves and went to work assessing the damage.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department stated that a major water main was reported broken around 3 a.m. in the area of Palm Avenue and Harratt Street.
Live television broadcasts and video showed water roaring downhill from Sunset Boulevard at Holloway Drive to Santa Monica Boulevard and into the Metro bus yard on Santa Monica Boulevard near San Vicente Boulevard.
Two people fell into a sinkhole that collapsed the sidewalk on Palm Avenue just south of Sunset, a witness who recorded video of the falls said. The two men did not appear to be seriously injured, Bystanders rushed to help and the two men did not appear to be seriously injured, the witness told reporters.
Witness video also showed a wayward Waymo autonomous car driving into a stretch of damaged, flooded road before firefighters disabled, then moved the vehicle.
L.A. County Fire Department Capt. Aaron Katon said firefighters had recently undergone training on how to deal with driverless cars in emergency situations.
By 7 a.m., the water, which pushed around parked cars and flooded underground parking garages, had stopped flowing.
Metro announced bus detours, delays, and a yard closure due to the flooding. “LINES 16 (and) 105: Due to a water main break, northbound and westbound buses will layover on San Vincente in front of the Pacific Design Center,” Metro said in an initial announcement on X. “Eastbound and Southbound buses will detour via Robertson between Santa Monica and Melrose.”
Then Metro said in an additional announcement, “Bus service continues in the area with Metro Bus lines 2, 4, 10, 14, 16, 20, 134, 602 and 627 experiencing delays and there are detours around the flooding.”
Sunset was shut down in the area, creating transportation headaches for commuters, residents and businesses, but only one customer was without water service, according to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
The fire department reported the following street closures:
— Sunset Boulevard between Larrabee and Sherbourne streets;
— Palm Avenue between Sunset and Santa Monica boulevards; and
— Santa Monica Boulevard between Larrabee Street and Holloway Drive.
“We received the report of this incident at 3:55 a.m. and our water crews have been onsite working to carefully and methodically close large-diameter valves located underground to turn off the water and assess and repair the damage,” an LADWP spokeswoman said. “Due to the highly pressurized water system, our crews must turn valves slowly and carefully to avoid causing further damage.
“We are also coordinating on the ground with law enforcement and will be working with traffic control as we make progress and assess and begin repairs,” she said.
A pressurized 8-inch line was operational and serving all customers but one, and the water was safe to drink, according to the LADWP’s David Hanson.
“Everyone does have clean water that’s safe to drink,” Hanson said.
The LADWP’s Anselmo Collins said there was no estimated time of repair because crews must first pump out water then assess the damage.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, while noting the break occurred on the border of West Hollywood and L.A., appeared at the scene with LADWP officials to thank the crews and ask people to be patient as the repairs are made to the line, which dates to 1916.
“These pipes are over 100 years old, so crews needed to work very carefully to avoid further damage,” Bass said.
The specific cause of the break was under investigation, but Collins said pressure in water delivery lines is highest at night when demand drops.
People who experienced damage to vehicles, a number of which were flooded to their windows in subterranean parking, or property were advised to file a claim on the LADWP website at www.ladwp.com/claims.