Residents in one Fort Lauderdale neighborhood got a holiday miracle on Wednesday as the latest sewer leak in their area was fixed.
City officials say a bypass line was successfully completed to divert around the damaged pipe in the Rio Vista neighborhood, saying that the line is functioning and the wastewater collection system is back online.
Officials say results from air quality tests did not detect any hazardous gasses in the air related to the break, however residents in the area are reminded that they are under a precautionary advisory for water related activities.
Sewage flowed for nine days in the Rio Vista neighborhood during the first break earlier this month. Two days after a repair, the 54-inch pipe ruptured in another spot a block away and the latest break occurred in the same sewer line the next day.
Robert Streit and his family moved into a hotel to avoid the stink and repairs around their home.
"The front of my home is a war zone. I have to climb over the pump lines and the temporary lines to get to my house,” Streit said.
Other neighbors escaped to relatives' homes for the holiday season.
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Jarad Gonzalez and his husband fled their home on Saturday, catching a flight to Puerto Rico with their 1-year-old son in tow.
“The entire neighborhood, we’re all feeling it,” Gonzalez said. “We’re all devastated. Everywhere you look it’s sewage. It feels like we’re walking into a war zone.”
