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KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) – Commerce Street in downtown Kingsport was flooded Friday night after a water line reportedly broke. The roadway was covered in water from East Market Street through Commerce Street and up to East Center Street, according to Kingsport city leaders.
Harvey Page, Utilities Field Operations Manager for the City of Kingsport, said that maintenance crews responded immediately and shut off the water at around 2 a.m.
Early Saturday morning, crews fixed the water line and cleaned up Commerce Street; but local business owners said the flooding impacted neighboring businesses into the morning.
Theresa Smith, an employee at the Mustard Seed Café, said the pressure from the pipeline burst affected their water lines.
“You could tell there had to be some kind of water leak,” said Smith. “We got in here and from the pressure of their lines blowing, it blew one of our lines for our water, our coffee, our soda machines and we had a little bit of a flood in here.”
Smith said because of the issue, they had to open the café later than usual Saturday morning.
“We couldn’t really get our prep or anything, like starting our waters, getting the water situated back in the kitchen,” said Smith. “We couldn’t get enough of that done so it put us behind a little bit.”
Smith said although they had a minor pressure issue, the owner of the Mustard Seed Café was able to fix the problem and said they appreciate the city for repairing the water line break quickly.
“They’ve cleaned up and done what they can,” said Smith. “They’re doing an awesome job, so that’s the best they could do on a Saturday, is more or less of what we’re trying to say.”
Page said Commerce Street is now open, the water line has been fixed and the concrete where crews fixed the line will be replaced soon.
