Residents along Clifford Street in North Philadelphia were left without running water for hours Tuesday after a water line break sent water gushing through the pavement, flooding the street and forcing a local American Legion bar to close. Neighbors said the flooding began around 10:30 a.m. near 25th Street, but Philadelphia Water Department crews did not arrive until around 6 p.m. People in the area said they saw firefighters releasing water from a nearby fire hydrant shortly before water began breaking through the asphalt. The cause of the water line break has not been confirmed. Earl Stanley, vice president of the local American Legion post, said the water rose as high as the steps outside the building, forcing the organization to close its bar. Inside, fans and water pumps were being used to clear water from the basement, but Stanley said the flooding was continuing to cause problems. “Frustrating because we are losing money. We have a lot of equipment down there that’s drying the place up. But the water is still coming in, so it’s not doing any good right now until we get it dried up,” Stanley said. Several residents told NBC10 they contacted the Philadelphia Water Department multiple times throughout the day to report the flooding and request assistance. “I’ve called several times. I’ve been sitting other all day with this. I just went home. I live down the street and they have not been here yet,” Stanley said. Neighbor Muyang Morfaw said she realized her home had lost running water about an hour or two after the flooding began. “An hour or 2 later I realized my water isn’t going. So, that’s when I called the Philadelphia Water Department myself, and they told me that there was some construction, and that somebody else reported a leak as well. And they said they’re doing what they have to do, and somebody should be down there soon and yada yada yada,” Morfaw said. NBC10 contacted the Philadelphia Water Department about the flooding. Approximately 30 minutes after the station sent an email, a water department crew arrived to begin addressing the problem. However, neighbors said they were still without running water after crews arrived. “It’s actually crazy. I’ve never experienced nothing like this before. Seeing this is really new for me and I would have hoped there would have been more done for it, especially since the whole street is out of water,” Morfaw said. NBC10 also contacted the Philadelphia Fire Department for information about what happened. Neither department had responded by the time of this article’s publishing. Meanwhile, the American Legion post remained closed as cleanup continued. Stanley said it was unclear when the bar would be able to reopen. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC Philadelphia. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC Philadelphia journalist edited the article for publication. ...read more read less