All Chicago was abuzz yesterday about the pit that opened up in Montrose Avenue after a 3 ft. water-main pipe broke around 1 a.m. Tuesday, swamping cars, swallowing parking meters and trees, and collapsing an 80 ft. section of the sewer, according to the Department of Water Management. The carnage has forced 10 businesses to close and flooded every basement on the block. The Trib's got a nice wrap-story. Pictures like this one (by TheeErin, via Flickr, also featured on Chicagoist) show the 15 ft. deep hole that's opened up in the road.

Repair Update: While several city departments are working on cleanup, including Streets and Sanitation, Transportation, the police and fire departments, the bulk of the repair work has fallen to the Department of Water Management so far. A department spokesman says it's had 40-50 people on site, working round the clock on the situation. As of noon today, they've managed to fix the section of ruptured pipe and are preparing to repair the 80 ft. of crushed brick sewer under the road, replacing it with new concrete pipe. I pressed for a time estimate for completing the repairs but he said it'd be foolish to even "hazard a guess" at this point.

Emergency Services Update: The Office of Emergency Management and Communications is on the case as well. A spokeswoman says the department has initiated a "reverse callback," i.e. they're inviting residents and business owners to report any power outages. They've also sent out human services reps to offer wellness checks to people living in the area who may be stressed out after a flooded basement. If you've got an outage to report or would like to speak to someone about getting a wellness check, the number to call is(312) 746-9111.

Bonus Explainer: Pictures like the shot above had me scratching my head a bit. What was originally filling all the now-open space beneath the street? And what happened to it?

Answer: Sand. According to Tom LaPorte, a spokesman for the Department of Water Management, the ground beneath Montrose Avenue and beneath a lot of streets in old Chicago neighborhoods is particularly sandy, making it particularly prone to being washed away in the event of a broken water main. There's some grim humor in thinking that the inches of sand now lining basements across the neighborhood could be some of the same sand that held up the street just a few days earlier.

Got a question? LaPorte and officials at some of the other departments I spoke to today offered to answer follow-up questions on the collapse. If you've got a query send me an e-mail, call me at 312.503.3818, or leave a comment below. In a few days I'll post a Q & A on the blog.

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