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Norristown water main break closed several roads, left 300 properties without water

The break left around 300 properties without water and closed a portion of Route 202 Monday morning.

Water department work crew attends to a water main break at West Penn and Cherry Streets in Norristown on Monday.
Water department work crew attends to a water main break at West Penn and Cherry Streets in Norristown on Monday.Read moreAlejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
    by Beatrice Forman
    Updated 
    Published 

A large water main break in Norristown closed several roads and left hundreds without water early Monday morning.

The break happened around 4 a.m. at the intersection of West Penn and Cherry Streets, according to a Facebook post from the Norristown Fire Department, closing several streets in the area after the gushing water froze over and coated the roads in thick sheets of ice.

Repairs on the 16-inch break were expected to last all day Monday, Norristown Fire Chief Tom O’Donnell told CBS3. Crews began working on repairs after Pennsylvania American Water shut off the valves, but the utility company was still listing water outages in area as of early Monday afternoon.

Water Flowing down W. Penn from a main break at corner of W. Penn and Cherry that sent water running down W. Penn Street on a freezing Monday morning in Norristown, PA, Jan. 22, 2024.
Water Flowing down W. Penn from a main break at corner of W. Penn and Cherry that sent water running down W. Penn Street on a freezing Monday morning in Norristown, PA, Jan. 22, 2024.Read moreAlejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

Around 300 properties in Norristown started Monday without water — including two Montgomery County government buildings — O’Donnell said. The fire department opened a warming station at its Fairmount Station on West Main Street, though a mandatory evacuation was never put in place.

Only the intersection of Penn and Cherry Streets remained closed Monday afternoon.