9 water main breaks in Durham on Thursday; repairs continue on 2

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- Nine water main breaks in Durham created traffic problems Thursday morning and even forced one school to dismiss students early.

The first water main break happened at Duke Street in Durham before the sun came up Thursday.

Water was seen rushing down the street, forcing crews to divert traffic off of North Duke Street between West Morgan Street and Minerva Avenue, near the school.

Before the day was over, a total of nine water mains had broken, Beverly Thompson, a City of Durham spokesperson told ABC11.

Some of the buildings connected to those pipes lost water pressure.

The problem forced Durham School of the Arts to dismiss school early.

Water has been restored to the Durham School of the Arts campus, Durham Public Schools said Thursday night. The facility and the school will be open Friday on a regular schedule

The break on Duke Street has been repaired but a detour is still in place along North Duke Street to allow crews time to continue to clean up the site. The detour is set up at West Corporation to Washington Street to W. Trinity Ave and back to Duke Street.

Breaks have been repaired at these locations:

• North Duke Street @ Minerva Avenue

• Gloria Avenue @ North Buchanan Boulevard

• 1700 block of Maryland Avenue

• Gloria Avenue @ North Gregson Street

• North Roxboro Street @ East Geer Street

• Friendship Road @Tryon Road

• 2700 Stuart Drive

Two other breaks happened later in the day and crews are on-site and anticipate completing repairs Thursday evening:

• 16 Madrid Lane

• West Knox Street @ Hale Street

It's unclear at this time what caused the water main breaks.