Residents and neighbours of the Oak Tree Retirement Village were woken in the early hours of the morning after a burst water main spilled a torrent of water into homes and onto Main Road at Cardiff.

According to Village manager Lyn Goodin-Collis the residents described it as the sound of a train coming through, with about 10 villas affected. One of the residents was taken to hospital as a precaution following a fall.

Residents on Johnstone Street awoke at 4.30am to gushing water with emergency services and Hunter Water crews arriving on site by 5am.  Hunter Water managed to isolate the break to the 500mm water main within the hour, but the flood of water and debris had already travelled downhill shutting down one lane of Main Road during peak commuter traffic and also cutting the water supply to several homes in Cardiff, Cardiff South and Macquarie Hills.

Assessors examined the villas, as well as Hunter Water who Ms Goodin-Collins said had been “fantastic” throughout the process. Hunter Water was providing assistance and ongoing support for all affected residents and apologised to all customers and those inconvenienced by the traffic disruptions.

Work was continuing on identifying the cause of the breakage according to a Hunter Water spokeswoman.