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Broken water line leads to flood of problems on city’s SE side

Morning traffic diverted; businesses left without water

SAN ANTONIO – A break in an underground water main Tuesday morning opened the floodgates to problems for some people in the area.

According to a spokesperson for the San Antonio Water System, the break, which happened around 8:30 a.m. on Southeast Military near South Presa Street, was likely due to the dry ground shifting.

The pressure from the pipe break also caused pieces of the sidewalk above it to go flying.

Water main break leads to collapsed sidewalk near SE Military and S.Presa on July 30, 2024 (KSAT)

There were no injuries reported, but some people in the area did experience some inconveniences.

Lynniece Harris said when San Antonio police shut down a lane of traffic along SE Military, her VIA Transit bus was rerouted. Harris said she had no other option but to use her own two feet.

“That made me have to walk almost a mile,” Harris said. “Now I’m walking back another mile because the bus wouldn’t pick me up.”

While she took the change in stride, other people were left struggling.

SAWS crews momentarily stopped the repair work to help a woman with a walker through puddles of water.

For businesses nearby, water also was an issue, but in a different way.

Businesses in the Presa Court strip mall were temporarily left without water Tuesday morning. (KSAT 12 News)

Several restaurants in the Presa Court strip mall remained closed long after their posted hours.

Workers in other shops said the food businesses were shut down due to a water outage.

Employees of a nail salon, meanwhile, said they were doing their best to complete services that did not require water. They said they were unable to use their foot baths for pedicures.

A convenience store at the end of the block, though, had quickly put any water troubles behind it.

A manager said the store had lost water service for only about 10 minutes.

Across the street at an apartment complex, Eddie Perez said he had noticed a temporary drop in the water pressure in his home, then quickly found out the cause of the trouble.

“When I came out, I saw that there was a big old flood over there,” Perez said, pointing to the area where crews were working.

Despite the inconveniences, a SAWS spokesperson told KSAT 12 News that no long-term water outages were expected. She said any problems people were experiencing would be cleared up within a few hours.


About the Authors
Katrina Webber headshot

Katrina Webber joined KSAT 12 in December 2009. She reports for Good Morning San Antonio. Katrina was born and raised in Queens, NY, but after living in Gulf Coast states for the past decade, she feels right at home in Texas. It's not unusual to find her singing karaoke or leading a song with her church choir when she's not on-air.

Azian Bermea headshot

Azian Bermea is a photojournalist at KSAT.

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