April 19, 2009 Water, not runners, floods Boston street Play video

(NECN: Josh Brogadir, Boston, Mass.) - Water flowed fast down Washington Street in Downtown Crossing which looked more like a river than a road at 3 a.m.

A water main broke sending rapids several blocks down to Kneeland Street in Chinatown.

Late night Boston partiers used garbage bags as waders to make their way around.

Others got a ride across the street.

But for all the fun, there was concern about the structure of the road and nearby buildings.

"At this time of the morning there's not many people to evacuate. We've had to evacuate one building so far," said District Fire Chief George Bishop.

Even seven hours later, there's still water pooling on the street a full three blocks away from the water main break here in the heart of Chinatown.

But the real damage is on Washington Street.

By day, you could see the gaping hole and bricks being removed.

The street will have to be rebuilt.

Attention was also on the Opera House at the corner of Washington Street and DeLafayette Avenue.

"I've got about ten guys in there now pumping out the building. There's standing water in the electrical room all that stuff is under water still. The fans and dehumidifiers are being set up as we speak and I've got truck mounts on the back side of the building pumping out the building," said Brandon Campbell, president of the carpet cleaning company A Touch Above.

The historic building flooded 18 years ago before

This time, A Touch Above, was called in to clean up the Opera House.

Campbell said he does not expect permanent damage but some historical pieces need to be addressed.

"They have murals on the wall, woodwork, just very expensive wood, murals, carpets custom to the building as well. It's completely saturated with sewage and feces water so you have to make sure you put in the proper anti-microbials and get it dried out," Campbell added.

This all happened during one of the busiest sports weekends in Boston history.

In addition to Bruins, Celtics and Red Sox fans, runners in town for the marathon ran around the mess or walked through the sludge built up on the sidewalk.

Authorities were unclear when the road would re-open.

NECN's Josh Brogadir reports.