Tadeh Ghazalian, owner of Dialog Cafe and a family business of 20 years, is grappling with the aftermath of a significant water main break on Sunset Boulevard. His business is temporarily shut down due to structural damage, loss of food and products, and a complete destruction of inventory. Ghazalian explained, “The biggest thing is that there is so much water, there’s so much sand that went through this place. It’s going to take a while before we get everything up and running again.”
The massive rupture involved a 3-foot-wide trunk line on Thursday morning, which released 17 million gallons of water into a West Hollywood neighborhood, spanning from the Sunset Strip to beyond Santa Monica Boulevard. While officials are still assessing the full extent of the damage, they acknowledge that the impacted area faces a lengthy recovery process.
West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman estimated that the flood resulted in damage or destruction to between 150 and 200 cars. Officials are reaching out to residents directly to guide them on filing claims with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power for water damage compensation. Several residential units also suffered from flooding, with a few having their electricity shut down due to compromised electrical panels. The majority of the damage occurred in underground garages, necessitating water removal efforts.
Repair work is underway following the flooding incident in West Hollywood. Myung J. Chun from the Los Angeles Times reported on the situation.
Joe Artle, a manager of an apartment building located at Palm Avenue and Cynthia Street, observed the devastation in a garage filled with mud and damaged vehicles. Artle related his experience, “The water was so intense. It was like whitewater rapids, like when you’re river rafting. You couldn’t stand in it; it would knock you over.” Artle, 70, was awakened by his neighbor Rudy Vargas at 3 a.m. on Thursday, warning him about the flooding and urging him to move his car. Despite efforts to alert neighbors, only four out of 20 vehicles were saved from the underground garage.
Vargas, 40, described his high adrenaline state during the emergency. Moving outside felt akin to crossing a river, requiring him to hold onto street poles for stability. He shared, “Sometimes, it rains hard enough that water comes into here, and it floods the garage, but it hasn’t been that bad, so when I came out to the kitchen window to see, and I saw it was really bad, that’s when I’m like, ‘panic mode.’” Vargas has resided in the building for approximately 13 years.
The rupture’s effects have temporarily closed Sunset Boulevard due to a resulting sinkhole. Hannah Fry, a staff writer, contributed additional details to this report.