Middletown Police said crews worked throughout the night to determine the source of a water main break in the downtown area.
The major main break happened at the intersection of Main and Court streets. Streets flooded with brown water, and asphalt was lifted and bent in all directions.
Police said Main Street was closed from Dingwall Drive to Washington Street. Drivers are asked to use DeKoven Drive and Broad Street to go around the break.
Get Connecticut local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Connecticut newsletters.
“People may see harmless sediment causing a brown tinge to their water. They should run cold water taps to clear the lines," police said.
Police said it'll be a while before it gets cleaned up.
Middletown Mayor Ben Florsheim said the main break is affecting services citywide. Residents are being advised to expect low or no water pressure over the next few hours.
"Please note that a main break can cause higher than normal flows and scour the inside of water mains and stir up harmless sediment that can cause discolored water," city officials said.
People should avoid drinking tap water, washing dishes or clothes until it's clear, officials said.
"It was a rush of water and honestly it was super intense," said Fiore II Restaurant hostess Julia Kosienski. '“Everybody was rushing to go see what was going on.”
Kosienski was driving into work when she came face to face with the spill out and cracked road. She said the restaurant's water is discolored because of the break.
Local
“We have water that has no water pressure and it's brown so we can’t serve it," Kosienski said. “I hope this gets fixed so that the businesses are not impacted."
Restaurants say they're waiting to see if the mess will affect their busiest time during the week. City officials said there are currently four businesses that are without water.
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox.
“They have isolated and turned off the valves so as you can see we’re not experiencing the water loss anymore," said Acting Director of Community and Economic Development Bobbye Knoll Peterson.
Responding officials said they isolated the area where the break occurred and turned off water in that area.
"They'll bring up the pavement, they'll find the actual break and they'll go about repairing it," Peterson said. “There should not be any issues, most of our restaurants will be able to carry on service as normal.”
Peterson said they've contacted statewide partners in both health and water safety and a boil advisory isn't necessary.
“Until we get the cement up, we don’t know what is under there or what the break was," he said. "There’s a system of water mains under there and they have to actually isolate where and what the issue is under there.”
