Home Care In Norristown, PA

A water main break left Montgomery County residents without water and a potential icy mess on streets and sidewalks Monday morning.

Officials said the water main was repaired and services were restored to customers at 6:22 p.m. Monday evening.

"When water service is restored after a main break, customers may experience cloudy or discolored water at first. This is normal," Kara Rahn, with Pennsylvania American Water, said. "We suggest they run the cold water taps only, at the lowest level of the house for about 3 to 5 minutes until the water runs clear."

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The break happened around 4 a.m. and sent water gushing onto streets near West Penn and Cherry streets in Norristown -- that's a residential area just off Main Street.

Water could be seen bubbling from the ground and flowing along the road. The water continued to flow from underground at 6:30 a.m.

Spots where the water calmed down appeared to start to freeze as temperatures were well below freezing.

Residents tried to move their cars out of the way to avoid getting iced in. They said they turned on the water Monday morning only to get nothing out of the tap.

"I got up to go to the bathroom, there wasn't no water," a resident -- who had just come from a friend's house -- said. "Without a doubt, it's definitely going to freeze so I had to move my car off the street into the lot so I don't get stuck."

In total, water service to about 265 residential and commercial customers was impacted, Pennsylvania American Water said.

It wasn't immediately clear how big of a water main broke. A public works vehicle and crew responded to the scene.

All roads have been opened in the area, according to officials.

Water main breaks are seemingly more common this time of year as temps yo-yo below and above freezing.

Rahn said there was no immediate cause known for this break.

"Weather is certainly a common cause this time of year but we haven't determine that officially in this case just yet," Rahn said.

NORRISTOWN, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- A large water main break in Norristown has closed down several roads Monday morning. The Montgomery County courthouse, as well as several other county offices, are also closed.

The break happened around 3 a.m. at the intersection of W. Penn Street and Cherry Street. Water is said to be flowing down W. Penn Street.

The break led to traffic backups as water went gushing onto busy roads, like Markley Street.

Public works trucks are on the scene spreading salt on the street to try and prevent the water from freezing.

The force of the water cracked the asphalt and turned to ice on roads and sidewalks due to below freezing temperatures.

Police have closed down a number of streets in the area due to icy roads, including the northbound lanes out of King of Prussia. Major delays are expected.

"Now I have to walk up through this ice toward Montgomery," said Ronnie Cochran, from Willow Grove. "It's a mess."

The county courthouse, county offices and garage at One Montgomery Plaza, the county family court facility at 321 Swede Street and the probation office at 408 Cherry Street are all closed Monday, officials say.

County staff working in those buildings will be working remotely, if possible.

A water main break in the area of Cherry and Penn Streets in Norristown will force the closure of the following #MontcoPA facilities today, Jan. 22: - County Courthouse- One Montgomery Plaza- County Family Court - Supervision Services Adult Probationhttps://t.co/hOR33utXkl pic.twitter.com/fZrk8Lo5i0

— Montgomery County, PA (@MontcoPA) January 22, 2024

All other county facilities, including all Magisterial District Courts and the Youth Center Court facility, remain operational and open to the public.

The Cherry Street and Markley Street parking facilities will remain open and available.

Cochran works nearby and says there was another water main break a few weeks ago.

"This is the second time, but the first time it was down on Main Street where it was broken and now here," he said. "This time it's too cold. The last one didn't freeze up like this, it wasn't icy."

Officials said work to repair the water main break is expected to last most of the day.

UPDATE: Service restored after Norristown water main break as freezing temps put strain on Philadelphia region's infrastructure

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- Hundreds of people in Norristown lost water, including several Montgomery County offices, after a large water main broke Monday morning.

Just after 4 a.m., the city's fire department posted on Facebook that a large water main break at Penn and Cherry streets was flooding multiple nearby roads.

Norristown Fire Chief Tom O'Donnell said Pennsylvania American Water is currently working to shut the valves, and once that happens, water levels on the roads should start to recede. When the valves are closed, O'Donnell said more crews will arrive with the equipment needed to repair the 16-inch break. Those repairs are expected to last all day Monday.

"I heard them out there shutting the water off," said Colleen Whigham, who lives on Cherry Street.

That was at 7 a.m., about four hours after water rushed through the streets on and around Cherry Street at West Penn Street.

"So, trying to get ready for work, trying to get ready for school, it was really hectic this morning," Whigham said.

That was partly because Whigham found out her family's preschool, Precious Life Learning Center, was in jeopardy. Pennsylvania American Water officials said there was a smaller and related water main break near the preschool.

"A small break just impacting about 20 folks on East Marshall, and it's connected to this main break," said Kara Rahn, the senior manager of Government and External Affairs at Pennsylvania American Water.

"I was checking on the map, and I was like, 'oh no!'," Whigham said. "Because we also have school-age. So, we have over 30 students that come through here every day."

Whigham and her staff started making calls in case the school also lost water service.

"We need to be able to wash hands and the bathrooms and we would just have to close," she said.

Whigham said despite all the chaos, and no water at home, she was just happy to help parents as much as she could.

"Our goal was to try to have them at least go to work for some hours today," she said, "versus just shutting down because we saw the notifications."

She thanked her staff and especially the moms and dads.

"The staff has been amazing, super flexible," Whigham said. "Parents are flexible, have been willing to come back, if that's what they need to do."

Near Cherry Street, Sandra Irwin recalled to CBS News Philadelphia that her reading time was interrupted at around 4 a.m.

"The fire department came and they knocked on everybody's door in the building," Irwin said.

That's when she looked out of her window near Barbadoes Street and saw, what she said, looked like a river in her neighborhood.

"It was horrible. I saw people not being able to move," Irwin said.

While a mandatory evacuation was not in place, O'Donnell said water rescue personnel went door-to-door early Monday to tell residents about a warming station at Norristown Fire Department's Fairmount Station on West Main Street.

Irwin said firefighters recommended she evacuate on her own.

"Or, they would help us to move someplace else. And nobody wanted to move," she said.

Rahn said it was around 3:15 a.m. that the 16-inch main broke.

"One of our largest water mains in our system was having water come out onto the street," she said. "So, that was why there was so much water."

Rahn said crews did know why this break happened. They were just focused on getting the water turned back on for customers, like the Tummy Time convenience store, which closed early because of lack of water.

Irwin said she was disappointed she couldn't get a snack, but she was impressed that the river in her neighborhood was gone.

"I did not expect it to be this clear today. I thought it would be frozen," she said. "But they did a good job."

O'Donnell added that when the water recedes enough, Public Works will start salting the roads to prevent any freezing.

Fire officials shared on an update on their Facebook page that the only remaining road closure in effect was at the intersection of Penn and Cherry streets.

As of Monday afternoon, about 300 properties are without water due to the main break, including the Montgomery County Courthouse, an adult probation office and the family court facility, all three of which will either work remotely or remain closed for the day while crews work to make repairs.

Pennsylvania American Water officials said they are confident that everything should be back up and running by Tuesday morning.

Alexandra Simon

Alexandra Simon is a digital content producer at CBS Philadelphia. Alex started her career at CBS21 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania before joining KARE 11 News in Minneapolis, where she covered breaking news, features and often cold weather.

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NORRISTOWN, PA — Some details have emerged on the newly proposed redevelopment for Norristown State Hospital, which officials are calling the largest project in the municipality's history.

The developer, PRDC properties, is calling for a sprawling multi-use residential, business, and retail area on the 70 acre swath that was deeded to the municipality and county from the state last year.

A total of 728 residential units, including 446 townhomes and 282 apartments, are in the initial proposal, PRDC said.

There is also roughly 70,000 square feet of commercial space, and what they're calling an "office/industrial tech complex" that they're hoping would attract major employers. The tech office space would cover about 272,000 square feet, according to the latest estimate.

Norristown officials say they will host multiple public meetings to provide feedback and input and to help shape the work.

Find out what's happening in Norristownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"These meetings will be the first of many opportunities for our residents to shape the biggest redevelopment project in the municipality's history," Norristown Municipal Council President Tom Lepera said. "Community input is key for this once in a lifetime opportunity to bring new housing and employment opportunities to Norristown."

See previous coverage: 'Momentous Day For Norristown' As State Hospital Opens For Development

The meetings will be held on March 14 at 7 p.m. and March 20 at noon at municipal hall. PRDC's Tony Mara will be on hand to present the proposal formally, and gather feedback.

In the past, discussions of a mixed use apartment building, retail development, and more public space, including parks, has been floated for the state hospital grounds.

Regardless of what comes to the property, Norristown will see a huge boon in real estate and other local taxes, possibly up to tens of millions of dollars.

Gov. Wolf's administration originally reached an agreement in December 2017 with the municipality to vacate two buildings on the state hospital grounds by 2022, opening the door for the long-discussed possibility of redevelopment.

The announcement came after controversy stewed over the state was forced to begin construction at the state hospital to add more beds following a lawsuit. In a settlement with ACLU in June 2017, the state agreed to create 110 new spots, including 50 at Norristown, after the civil rights organization alleged that individuals with severe mental illness had "languished" for extensive periods of time in jail cells when they should have been receiving care.

DHS previously stated that due to the settlement, the state faces millions in fines if it does not provide the needed space in a timely manner. Norristown was reluctant to comply with the state's demands until the state put together a plan for the future deeding of the hospital to local authorities, which it did in 2023.

The state hospital will remain open into the future at a lower capacity, with altered uses for some of its buildings. There remain 137 beds for forensic patients, and a new forensic facility began construction in 2022.

NORRISTOWN, PA — The humanitarian crisis of homelessness continues in Montgomery County, and officials are calling for a change to zoning codes and laws as part of a multi-pronged response to alleviate it.

That's the conclusion of the Montgomery County Homelessness Task Force, which issued a new report recently looking deeper into the root causes of a crisis that has drastically worsened since the pandemic, related social instability, ongoing inflation, and lack of fair pay.

“Homelessness is a reality for many men, women and families that not only impacts those living without steady shelter, but also those in our neighborhoods and communities," Lansdale Borough Manager and taskforce member John Ernst said. "It has a ripple effect through the entire society, and it benefits us all to break the cycle."

The key findings also stressed the need for more beds to accommodate the homeless population in the short term. With basic shelter, a homeless individual can begin taking steps to get permanent shelter, benefits, and even employment.

The task force recommended a localized response in partnership with both community organizations and individual municipalities to "strategically place emergency short-term housing and mobile services for the unhoused throughout the county."

Find out what's happening in Norristownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Four municipalities have already signed on to such "implementation" plans to provide additional shelters: Lansdale, Lower Merion, Upper Moreland, and West Norriton.

The task force noted that changing zoning codes were required in many areas to allow nonprofits to provide shelter for the homeless. In some places, churches are prohibited from doing this by code. Improved zoning also will allow for the repurposing empty or abandoned buildings, which make way for developing more housing at below market rates.

Homelessness numbers have been steadily growing for years. The pandemic and inflation only exacerbated underlying systemic issues like income inequality and an insufficient safety net, and society's most vulnerable are paying the price.

The county is trying, but officials put the crisis simply in last year's report: "systemic drivers into homelessness have been stronger than the ability to quickly re-house households experiencing homelessness." And numbers could get worse.

According to the Montgomery County Planning Commission, there are only 37 affordable rental units per 100 households making below $35,000 a year countywide. Moreover, more than 65 percent of renter households below the $35,000 a year threshold pay more than 50 percent of their monthly income toward rent and utilities.

Two new Code Blue sites, providing emergency shelter during cold weather emergencies, have been established in the past year. The county has also applied $30 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding, helping to create new affordable housing units, shelters, outreach programs, and more.

The task force included former county Commissioner Ken Lawrence and 46 representatives from across various leadership positions around the county.