Water main break in Omaha likely related to flooding, officials say

Crews from the Metropolitan Utilities District, or MUD, were busy cleaning up Center Street near Baxter Arena in Omaha Tuesday after a water main break.

A 24-inch transmission water main broke in the early morning hours, just as Omaha was receiving up to 6 inches of rain, flooding several nearby creeks.

Kendall Anderson is the general manager at Voodoo Taco in Aksarben Village.

He said he saw waist-high water and four or five cars stranded on Center Street Tuesday morning.

“I just hope that our business doesn’t get impacted by this the whole day, because this is the main road and we see a lot of impact from this road,” he said. “Taco Tuesday at that.”

According to the City of Omaha Public Works Department, Center Street will be closed to through traffic between South 60th and South 72nd streets for six weeks to allow MUD crews to repair the water main break.

Thursday afternoon, MUD released a statement that read, “The cause of the break remains under investigation, however preliminary information indicates it was related to the excess rainfall and flooding.”

MUD said water service was restored to customers by early afternoon and the site will be turned over to the City of Omaha for pavement and street repairs once the water main is fixed.