VIDEO: 'Extensive damage' after downtown Kelowna water main break

(UPDATE: April 6 @ 1:45 pm) - It was a rude awakening for residents in the area of Water Street and Boyce Crescent this morning.

At about 4 am, water started emerging from a broken water main.

The first spectacle people saw was a vehicle partially swallowed up as the roadway caved in around the break.

“When water mains occur there’s erosion underneath the ground first, and then you’ll see the settling,” explained the City of Kelowna’s Rod MacLean.

Crews scrambled to the scene to limit the damage.

"They had to shut the valves down and de-water the site," said MacLean.

"They've removed the affected pipe in the area, it's about 12 feet long, and they're just in the midst of completing their replacement right."

While city crews dealt with that, restoration companies descended on the area.

At one apartment building, Mill Creek Landing, there was serious flooding in the lobby area and cars in the parkade were swamped, but luckily the living spaces above stayed dry.

Across the street at Willowbridge, the water made its way into ground floor units, but people inside said a quick response means they’ll likely be back in their units by tonight.

The exact cause of the break isn’t yet known, but the pipes are old.

“On our mapping, it’s maybe about 50 years old, maybe a bit older than that,” said MacLean.

Water mains are built to last 60 to 100 years, but as they age, the chances of failure rise.

“We have plans to slowly replace all of the older pipe over time,” MacLean explained.

“We have different spots in the city which are similar and we target our replacement projects accordingly.”

It’s not known at this time if the incident will prompt a major pipe replacement in the immediate area.

“We’ll investigate this and have a good look and see what may have happened,” he said.

“Right now this is a fix and we’ll look at the long-term requirements here.”

(Original story: April 6 @ 9:15 am) - City crews are currently responding to a significant water main break on the edge of downtown Kelowna.

The 10-inch waterman break happened at the corner of Water Street and Boyce Crescent early this morning.

“There is extensive damage to the roadway as well as flooding at a handful of properties in the area,” explained a City release. “Crews have been on scene since 5 am and restoration services are on-site for flood repair.”

The break happened right beneath a minivan that was swallowed up by the earth when the road crumbled beneath it.

The van was removed from its precarious position earlier this morning and crews are now working to repair the damage.

While the City says the water main break should be repaired by the end of the day, restoration work is expected to continue throughout the long weekend.

The impacted area is right off Hwy 97, but there are no impacts to traffic at this time.

However, residents are asked to keep away from the area while crews repair the damage.