Cleanup begins after water main break

The day after a massive water main break in central Edmonton, the difficult cleanup process for residents is underway.

The break happened on Sunday near the intersection of 109 Avenue and 108 Steet, and within a few hours it had spread over a five block radius. In some places, the water was even hip-deep.

It's not known exactly how many homes were flooded, but EPCOR estimates 40 customers were affected.

Carol McCallum is trying to get her life in order after her basement filled with water on Sunday. McCallum says the ordeal began for her family at 6:00 in the morning when the basement window broke, and water began pouring in.

"We didn't know how high it would get, we thought it might come into the main floor."

McCallum says she and her husband and daughter initially tried to save as many of their possessions as possible, before they were rescued from the house by fire crews with boats.

"We grabbed our cat, and our passports, and a change of clothes, and our medicines and we escaped."

They have since returned home to find that everything stored in their basement has been destroyed.

"Everything was ruined." McCallum said. "The furnace was submerged, the hot water heater, the king sized bed, the chesterfield, the piano, it's all been submerged."

In addition to furniture and the house itself, McCallum says a cleanup crew is now working in her basement bagging and removing personal items. The family had insurance, but not everything can be replaced.

"Thirty or forty years of family memorabilia, some of that has no price."

Fortunately, no one was injured as a result of the flooding, although McCallum says it's been hard for her teenage daughter.

"Kids don't have the experience to know that what she saw on TV about hurricane Katrina isn't exactly what's going to happen here."

In flooding situations, mold is a major concern, and cleanup crews are ripping out carpet and drywall and trying to dry out basements. Many basements in the area will have to be rebuilt, and families will have to find other accommodations.

"I've had an estimate of two months to fully rebuild the basement." McCallum says. "Somebody else said two weeks, so we'll see how long it takes."