Features

Dozens of city employees were forced to evacuate the Civic Center building at 2180 Milvia St. Tuesday when a broken water main caused a small flood. 

The leak originated in a bathroom on the third floor around 11:30 a.m., but other floors were affected when water seeped down an elevator shaft to the groundfloor city clerk’s office. 

Workers on the first and second floors described mild dampness and minor inconvenience, but Lisa Caronna, director of the parks, recreation and waterfront department, was in the third floor bathroom when the leak occurred and experienced it first hand. 

“It felt like a fire hydrant going off. You know those pictures of kids playing in the water from fire hydrants on the street? Well, that was me. It came from the back of the toilet –the fresh water line,” she said. 

According to Caronna, after the original blast, there was about 1 1/2 inches of water covering the north wing of the third floor. “It was a lot of water in a short time,” she said. 

The evacuation of employees on the second and third floors lasted until about 1 p.m. For most workers, this meant nothing more than an extended lunch break, according to Arietta Chakos, chief of staff for the city manager. Chakos was unsure of the extent of the damage, but said that business is returning to normal. 

“We’re shampooing rugs, getting things cleaned up, and we’ll be back to full operations tomorrow,” she said, although she noted that the elevator repair could take longer.