Connecticut town in state of emergency after water main break

A state of emergency was declared in the city of New London, Connecticut, on Thursday due to a leaking underground water main that is gushing 8,000 gallons per minute, with some parts of the city facing the possibility of losing water for several days.

The leak was discovered on Thursday morning and has been about 50 percent contained, according to New London Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio. Both New London and the neighboring city of Waterford urged residents and businesses to limit water use to essential purposes only.

Finizio said the city uses about 7 million gallons of water a day, but was losing water at a rate of 10 million gallons a day because of the leak. Finizio said parts of the city faced the possibility of losing all water within hours.

"This exceeds our capacity and as a result we are expecting significant reductions in water pressure if not complete loss of water to the city,’’ Finizio told The Day newspaper.

Finizio said the leak could take one or two days to be repaired. He added that it’s not clear what caused the leak, but surmised it could be related to the heavy rainfall that flooded parts of the state on Wednesday.

In a second news conference, he urged residents not to stockpile water, as the emergency crews working on fixing the water main had seen water pressure drop, according to NBC Connecticut.

The city called state officials for help and was drawing water from other sources to maintain pressure and launched emergency conservation efforts, Finizio said.

"The governor has spoken with the mayor and is closely monitoring the situation. Our Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection is also in regular contact with the city. We stand ready to help with whatever resources they need," Andrew Doba, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy's communications director, said in a statement emailed to NBC Connecticut. 

Al Jazeera and The Associated Press