EDMONTON- The clean up in underway after a water main break in the area of 124th street and 107th avenue Friday.
A pipe burst around 3:00a.m., causing a massive amount of water to flood onto the busy street.
A hair salon, restaurant, office buildings, and several other businesses along 124th street have been affected by the flood.
"It was basically the North Saskatchewan running down the avenue beside the building, it was really bad," explained Brad Pipella, the owner of Col. Mustard's Canteen, who arrived at his restaurant around 5a.m. to survey the damage.
"We found a foot of water in the basement," Pipella said. "All the tiles are lifting up already."
Clean up crews have arrived to begin repairs on the popular restaurant. Pipella says much of the tile and drywall will need to be replaced, and Col. Mustard's Canteen will be closed for business until further notice.
"Hopefully it doesn't take too long and we're up and running again next week," Pipella added.
Many residents in the area woke up to flooded streets and basements.
"(The water) was right up to the front step here actually, and I was panicked because my sump pump was going around," explained resident Rim Goltz. "We were terrified because we were this close to having a major problem here, and there's some people across the street that have a lot of water in their basements, which is unfortunate."
"We couldn't go to work this morning. The back alley's flooded, front street's flooded," added Ryan Hehr.
A section of 124th street was shut down to traffic for several hours, until crews got the water flow under control shortly before 7:00a.m.
"It was a fairly major break," said EPCOR spokesperson Tim LeRiche.
He says it was a main transmission line that burst.
"It was a rather big line and it had a lot of subsidiary lines coming into it, so it took the guys some time to find all the valves to shut them off."
In the winter, water main breaks are more difficult for crews to get under control due to the amount of snow and ice that builds up around the sewer drains.
"Sometimes the drains get plugged, so there's a tendency in the winter time for the water to stay on the surface and try to find somewhere to go," LeRiche explained.
LeRiche says service has not been impacted, and if anyone is experiencing trouble they are asked to contact EPCOR.
With files from Fletcher Kent.
© Global News. A division of Shaw Media Inc., 2013.