A major water main break on Thursday morning sent a torrent of water rushing down the Sunset Strip and surrounding streets in West Hollywood, flooding homes, trapping vehicles, and disrupting morning commutes. The break occurred in the vicinity of Sunset Boulevard and Holloway Drive.
The deluge transformed streets into rivers, with footage from the scene showing water gushing around cars and into buildings. First-floor apartments and underground garages were reported to be flooded, and several vehicles appeared submerged or stranded in the rapidly rising water. The popular Dialog Cafe on Palm Avenue was inundated with thousands of gallons of water.
"People don't really understand how the water is gushing. It's been doing this for over an hour," one eyewitness told KTLA. Another resident, Ken Adams, described waking up to what he initially thought was an air conditioner humming, only to look out his window and see Palm Avenue had become a "Palm river."
Los Angeles County Fire Department Captain Aaron Katon described the volume of water as "one of the big ones." Firefighters were on the scene working to shut off the water supply and advised the public to avoid the area. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) confirmed that the burst main belongs to them. LADWP stated that its crews were working to "carefully and methodically close large diameter valves located underground to turn off the water and assess and repair the damage." They noted that due to the pressurized system, valves must be turned slowly to prevent further damage.
Authorities closed several streets in response to the flooding: Sunset Boulevard eastbound between Larrabee Street and Sherbourne Drive; Holloway Drive eastbound between Sunset Boulevard and Westmount Drive; Santa Monica Boulevard eastbound between San Vicente Boulevard and Hancock Drive; and Larrabee Street, Palm Avenue, and Hancock Avenue in both directions between Sunset Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard. City buses were rerouted, and water also appeared to have flooded a Metro bus yard. The cause of the water main break remains undetermined.