EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14\/CBS4) \u2014 A water main break in Northeast El Paso has left a family of 10 temporarily displaced after their home on Gschwind Street was deemed unlivable. <\/p>\n
The incident occurred Saturday night when a 36-inch water pipe broke, affecting thousands of households, according to El Paso Water.<\/p>\n
Homeowner Candy Arellano described the scene, “It’s really deep. From what I hear, I mean, you could look over myself and my mom\u2019s room, and you can literally see the water like we are on top of a bridge. That\u2019s how bad the water is under.”<\/p>\n
The break caused a massive hole filled with water, threatening the structure of Arellano’s childhood home. <\/p>\n
KFOX14 Anchor Jessica Gonzalez reports on the family displaced after an unprecedented water main break (Credit: KFOX)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The wall in her backyard collapsed, and water gushed inside, creating what Arellano’s son described as “literally like a river.”<\/p>\n
Arellano recounted the urgency of the situation, “My grandfather, who is wheelchair-bound that was the first thing to do let\u2019s grab my grandfather. Let\u2019s get out of here.” <\/p>\n
The fire department arrived about an hour later, followed by police and El Paso Water crews, who began draining the water.<\/p>\n
Tragically, Arellano lost two dogs in the incident\u2014one was found dead down the street, and another drowned in the backyard. <\/p>\n
The home, left to her by her father, who passed away last summer, holds significant sentimental value.<\/p>\n
“I don\u2019t even know what to do. This is where the time we wish. My dad was here because he would probably know what to do unfortunately, we don\u2019t know what to do,” Arellano said.<\/p>\n
While the Red Cross was contacted, Arellano was informed that the damage was not significant enough to warrant assistance. <\/p>\n
In an emailed statement to KFOX14\/CBS4, the Red Cross said that while they are aware of the situation Northeast residents are facing, they are not providing services. <\/p>\n
“We understand how challenging the recent water main break in Northeast El Paso has been for residents. At this time, the Red Cross is not actively providing services for this specific incident. For immediate assistance, we encourage residents to follow updates from local emergency management and utility providers, as they typically coordinate water distribution and other resources during events like this. We remain committed to supporting the community during emergencies and will share updates if our involvement changes,” Delia Krippelz, Regional Communications Director of Red Cross, said. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, El Paso Water has provided the family with a hotel stay until Friday. <\/p>\n
City Representative for part of northeast and central El Paso. Josh Acevedo spoke to KFOX14\/CBS4 about the current situation residents are facing, stating that the city is still figuring out what residents can do if their house has been impacted.<\/p>\n
“We are still figuring that out. Our office of Emergency Management is really doing an excellent job in kind of putting everything together. Main focus right now is getting back to normal operations, and then they’ll figure out if there’s going to be build credits for the people that are affected and how that is going to work,” Acevedo said. <\/p>\n
A GoFundMe has been set up for the Arellano family here.<\/a><\/p>\n RECOMMENDED: Residents urged to minimize water use; boil notice remains after El Paso water main break<\/a><\/p>\n