Water main break rips huge hole in Orinda road

ORINDA, Calif. (KGO) -- Rain flooded a major thoroughfare in the East Bay where a water main break caused part of the road to collapse. Moraga Way is a major commuter route and while traffic is flowing in both directions now, the road was badly damaged by a water main break early Thursday morning.

With rain pounding down, a water main burst on the shoulder of the road. Water bubbled up through the asphalt and into the yards of six neighboring homes before EBMUD got a grip on it.

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EBMUD spokesperson Tracie Morales says "the water leak is on a 12 inch cast iron Main in an area that's an extremely high pressure zone and that might be one of the reasons the pipe might have broken. "

The fractured asphalt damaged a gas line. Crews had to enlarge the hole to 10' x 30' to make repairs, meaning the hole now eats up much of the northbound lane, impacting traffic flow.

On a nearby alternate route, Moraga Road, rain-slick roads caused a landscape truck to flip over midday. No one was injured.

There were many snow lovers out driving through the rain today to scoop up deals at local ski shops as the blizzard is in full bloom now in the mountains.

Josh Holm with Sports Basement Walnut Creek says it's looking to be an epic storm with powdery snow- " it's really set up to be a perfect storm. "

But slow going on the roads in the East Bay and up into the Sierra.