GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — “Man, I thought I was tripping. That’s what I thought."
That's how Walter Jenkins woke up Thursday morning.
"I thought, 'What is going on?' Looked like I needed a boat outside of our house instead of a car.”
Jenkins was one of several residents in southeast Grand Rapids directly impacted by Thursday's water main break on the corner of Adams Street and Philadelphia Avenue.
RELATED: Water main break floods southeast Grand Rapids neighborhood
For hours, water pooled on the road, in some places multiple feet deep, damaging nearby cars and even basements.
By Thursday afternoon, the flooding outside was gone, but reality had already set in.
“Man, I’m sick. I got a lot of money in here," Jenkins said. "I redid the whole basement.”
Jenkins has lived inside his Philadelphia Avenue home for 20 years. He told FOX 17 around 3:14 a.m. Thursday his son noticed something strange — water was coming though his basement wall.
“You probably could see the crack coming from that window right there," Jenkins said, pointing the problem out to FOX 17. "That’s where the water was gushing out of.”
Then Jenkins realized it wasn't just seeping inside his home.
"I come to the front door and it’s looking like a lake," he said. "So I’m like — you know, I have some kind of eye trouble, so I’m telling my son, 'Are you seeing what I’m seeing?' He said, ‘Yeah, Dad, I’m seeing the water.'"
Other neighbors shared their own stories.
“My son woke up around 2, 2:30 in the morning, concerned. He said it sounds like a river flowing down," said Lorena Fisher.
Another resident, Scott Hall, said, "We’re going to lose everything in the basement. Probably our cars too, unfortunately.”
Wayne Jernberg, manager at Grand Rapids Water System, updated the community in a press conference around 9 a.m. and said a 24-inch pipe burst on Adams Street. The ensuing chaos led to two sinkholes, submerged cars and, for Jenkins, two totaled vehicles.
“And I just bought this car yesterday," Jenkins said, referring to the Cadillac in his driveway.
In the middle of the chaos came a heroic rescue.
The driver of a white Honda got caught up in the flooding and his car drifted into deep waters. He ended up climbing on top of his car, screaming for help until two men rushed to bring him to safety.
The city of Grand Rapids handed out jugs of water to residents after a boil-water advisory was enacted in response to this water main break.
Additionally, they handed out letters encouraging people like Jenkins to file claims.
“Should I file a claim? Yes, I should. Yes, I should," he joked.
Jenkins said he's not angry because everything he owns is insured, but it won't cover the cost of inconvenience.
“It’s a mess. Don’t nobody wanna go through this here," he said.
As far as recovery goes, Jernberg said it'll be at least a week before the roads are drivable again. At that point, engineers will assess the area and recommend the full scope of repair — albeit a limited scope, as FOX 17 was told by a spokesperson with the city.
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