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By Colin Mixson
Brooklyn Daily
Residents living along Kings Highway awoke to an early morning flood on Saturday, after a car crash popped the top on a fire hydrant, sending water and mud gushing into garages and basements for two blocks east of Flatbush Avenue.
“The water was really gushing,” said Gerard Mark, who lives along Kings Highway between Flatbush Avenue and E. 40th St. “I would say my garage took on roughly two-and-a-half feet of water.”
Mark, whose below-street-level garage was filled with water, toppling boxes and destroying books, said the flow of water didn’t stop until it reached his back yard. The flood left is driveway, garage, and basement matted with a thick layer of mud and sand.
“I got a lot of mud,” said Mark. “Especially in my garage, probably at least a centimeter thick.”
Fortunately, fire fighters were soon on hand to stem the flood, and helped Mark clean out his house by using their fire engines to pump the water out of his home.
“The fire fighters came, and they did a great job,” said Mark. “They came into the house to see what the damage was, and helped pump a lot of the water out.”
Pamela Saul fared better than her next door neighbor, Mark, catching the flood in time to keep the water out of her lower floors.
“The water came right up to the steps of our basement, but my husband saw it coming and managed to put sand bags up before it could get in,” said Saul.
Still, if she’d had a below-ground garage, like her neighbor, chances are the damage would have been much worse.
“We were watching it the whole time, and probably would have suffered the same fate if our garage were any lower,” she said.
Reach reporter Colin Mixson at cmixson@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4514.