A massive water main break on Los Angeles’ iconic Sunset Boulevard has caused flooding at the UCLA campus, local officials say.
The main burst on Tuesday afternoon, sending a 30-feet jet of water into the air and opening a hole 10 feet wide in the street.
Local roads were inundated and water poured into underground car parks.
Three motorists had to be rescued from flooded cars.
A massive water main break on Los Angeles’ iconic Sunset Boulevard has caused flooding at the UCLA campus
The broken main dates from 1921 and carries water from reservoirs in the San Fernando Valley to the city of Los Angeles.
People were stranded by rising water shortly before 3:30 p.m. when the water main burst near Sunset Boulevard from Marymount Place to Westwood Plaza, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. It complicated the rush-hour commute for scores of drivers.
The 90-year-old water main was shut off four hours after it ruptured, but not before wasting 8 to 10 million gallons of water, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials said.
It took several hours before the flow was halted in the early evening. Pipes had to be closed slowly to avoid further damage, Los Angeles Water and Power spokeswoman Michele Vargas said.
Police discouraged anyone from trying to surf down streets flooded with ankle-deep water, after some people came to the area with boogie boards.
“That is probably one of the most dangerous things you can do,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Captain Jaime Moore.
“For somebody to try and boogie board in this, it’s just going to be an asphalt bath.”
At least five people were rescued from an underground parking structure near the Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, LAFD spokesman Brian Humphrey said. Four swift-water rescue teams were in two underground parking garages evaluating the structures and checking for any stranded people.
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A young basketball fan at a college game in Los Angeles has been embarrassingly refused by his girlfriend when he made proposal in front of a stadium of booing spectators.
The pair was captured on the stadium camera during the half-time entertainment during a game between UCLA and Richmond on December 23.
The crowd watched the scene unfold as the young man knelt down to ask for his girlfriend’s hand.
A young basketball fan at a college game in Los Angeles has been embarrassingly refused by his girlfriend when he made proposal in front of a stadium of booing spectators
Initially showing great excitement at being given the chance to kiss her partner on the big screen, she affectionately reached for his face with a big smile.
But as the young man stood up and the UCLA host came over to offer him the microphone, her smile turned into a look of mild confusion and surprise.
Her boyfriend then reached into his pocket, produced a box and said: “I knew that I was going to do this since the first day that I met you, and I figured now was as good a time as any.”
When he opened the box to present the ring, the young woman’s attitude appeared to change.
She asked him a barely audible question which could have been: “Is this a joke?” To which he quite clearly replied: “No, it’s serious.”
The girlfriend hesitated for a moment and then picking up her bag, left the scene in a hurry.
Offering words of consolation the host said: “Sometimes we get a little camera shy,” but the rejected lover departed shortly after with his head hanging low in shame.
Several blogs are now debating whether the proposal was even genuine, since couples have been known to stage such performances at basketball and hockey games in the past.
Also up for debate is whether, since what is intended to be a romantic gesture can quickly become a spectacle of public ridicule, proposing in front of an audience is a clever idea at all.
The Los Angeles Times confirmed that a UCLA spokesman had said the proposal was not staged.
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