- A massive water main break in Provo caused significant damage Saturday.
- Eyewitness Jonah Rollins described the geyser reaching up to 100 feet high.
- Provo officials attribute the incident to pipe corrosion; claims can be filed.
PROVO — As businesses began recovering Monday from a water main break that left behind damage Saturday, one worker shared his eyewitness account of the minutes before a massive geyser surfaced in the middle of Center Street.
Jonah Rollins said he had just recently arrived at Cat's Cradle Antiques, 168 W. Center St., when he discovered he had to run back outside to his car to fetch his girlfriend's wig.
"I noticed the ground kind of bubbling up a little bit," Rollins said during a Monday interview with KSL-TV. "I at first thought it was an earthquake."
Before he knew it, water started streaming up and covering the surface of the road.
Rollins said he ran back inside to alert his dad, and by the time he returned, the situation had already worsened.
"The curb is completely submerged under water," Rollins said. "Water is starting to come toward the front of the store. We came back in, grabbed a bunch of towels, trash bags, filled them up with stuff so we could, kind of, stop the water from getting into the store."
Still, Rollins said the water made a 3 or 4-foot incursion into the shop.
By the time he was able to help some customers get out of the back of the store, he said the geyser was in full effect on the street.
"It wouldn't be a surprise to me if it was 100 feet high," Rollins said. "It was raining down rocks and debris and mud, and it was going for an hour."
Though he said there was greater damage to other cars in the area, he still believed his car was likely totaled after he unwittingly parked right next to where the water main break happened.
"(The) front window looked more like I got hail damage, where the back window looks like I was in a shootout or something," Rollins said.
On Monday, Provo public works director Gordon Haight said it appeared that corrosion to the aging water pipe contributed to what happened, although he said workers were still looking into the situation.
Previously, city officials said roughly 15 cars sustained damage during the ordeal in addition to multiple businesses.
Haight said anyone impacted by the event could contact the city at 801-852-6365 or email claims@provo.gov to request a claims form.
Rollins said he was grateful nobody was hurt by shooting or falling debris.
"There were giant rocks raining down — I have one embedded in the back of my windshield," Rollins said. "It was quite a jarring situation."
