Terrifying flood waters from a water main break filled the streets of West Hollywood Thursday morning, distressing morning commuters.

A “major water main break” occurred in the area of Sunset Blvd and Holloway Dr, the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Office told The California Post.

Police said they did not know how the main break came about and were just doing traffic control in the area. They were inundated with calls about the floods.

Video from the area shows heavy flood water rushing down the streets of West Hollywood and around cars. Some eyewitnesses in the area reported that first-floor apartments and underground garages were flooded. Several cars also appeared to be trapped.

“People don’t really understand how the water is gushing. It’s been doing this for over an hour,” one man said from the scene told KTLA.

Shocking footage from NBC LA showed the area’s popular Dialog Cafe take on an incredible amount of water from an artificial river running downhill south on Palm Ave. Thousands of gallons of water are seen rushing downhill at the scene.

Another resident in the area told CBS LA that he was stunned at the sight he saw when he got up around 3 a.m. this morning after he heard what he thought was an air conditioner blowing.

“So I got up to see what was going on, looked out my front window and Palm Avenue turned into Palm river,” Ken Adams said.

Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Aaron Katon exclaimed at the amount of water coming out of the water main at the scene.

“Look at the volume of water coming out, this is one of the big ones,” he told KTLA. Firefighters also told the outlet that they are working to turn off the water, and people should stay out of the area.

“Due to the highly pressurized water system, our crews must turn valves slowly and carefully to avoid causing further damage,” they added.

LADWP confirmed to the California Post that the pipe does belong to them.

The following streets are closed, according to NBC LA:

• Sunset Boulevard, eastbound, between Larrabee Street and Sherbourne Drive.
• Holloway Drive, eastbound, between Sunset Boulevard and Westmount Drive.
• Santa Monica Boulevard, eastbound, between San Vicente Boulevard and Hancock Drive.
• Larrabee Street, Palm Avenue and Hancock Avenue, in both directions, between Sunset Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard.

Residents in the area should expect traffic delays. City buses have also been redirected around the scene, and the water appears to have flooded a Metro bus yard.

It’s unclear what caused the water main break.

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