Water pressure was restored Monday as crews continued to work on a broken main that forced the Decatur school system to close, officials said.
DeKalb County crews were working to repair the 36-inch break at 3124 Midway Road, officials confirmed. Shortly after 4 p.m., the county’s Department of Watershed Management said there were no longer water outages and the pressure was “fully restored.”
“Customers in the affected area may experience brown water and are encouraged to run the faucets inside and outside their homes/businesses to clear the internal plumbing,” the department said.
A spokesperson for Decatur schools said the break affected the entire district, which consists of 10 schools.
“Due to safety and sanitation concerns, we will close all schools, including College Heights and the Frasier Center, as well as offices, for today,” the school district announced early Monday.
According to the state Department of Education, enrollment for Decatur schools was 5,262 as of this fall.
The DeKalb school district said students from three of its schools were relocated to other county schools while the water break was being repaired. Officials at Avondale Elementary, DeKalb School of the Arts and Wadsworth Magnet School alerted parents that students were relocating, the district said.
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
A nearby homeowner said the sound of water flowing against his house woke him at 4 a.m. Monday.
“I come outside and saw everything, everything was underwater,” Mathew Holmes told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “That giant manhole, you couldn’t even see it. It was just spilling out.”
Holmes said the water was shut off around 8 a.m. But by then, the damage was done to his home and yard.
“The entire underside of my house was flooded; it knocked down my retention wall on the creek,” he said. “It took like a good 20 yards of my yard out. So that’s where I’m at now.”
Holmes, a new homeowner, said he’s hopeful insurance will assist with the repairs.
— Staff writer Cassidy Alexander contributed to this article. Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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