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Water main breaks spring up across Tulsa, Green Country

It was hoped that the end of the drought would bring some relief from water line breaks, but a blast of Arctic air followed by a rapid warm up did the damage anyway.

In the last two days, the city has had about thirty breaks reported; they were at 91 for the month of January as of early Friday afternoon.

The five-year average for water main breaks in Tulsa during January is 151, according to Tulsa's Water Distribution Manager, Rick Caruthers.

One break, near 26th and Yale, will prove to be an obstacle during the Friday afternoon rush hour.
The line runs under the northbound lanes of Yale, so crews shut it down so they could get to the ruptured 12-inch line.
Construction already had traffic on Yale limited to one lane in each direction, so northbound Yale will be shut down until both the water line and the road can be repaired.
Water line crews knocked on doors in the neighborhood to alert residents to the problem, and also notified the fire department that several hydrants were affected, which is standard procedure.
Some breaks, which involve smaller lines that don't affect traffic and aren't causing property damage, will take time for the busy crews to fix.
Caruthers says the city has brought in extra crews to handle the overload.

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