Minneapolis Public Works crews are continuing to clean up a mess triggered by a water main break early Thursday on the city’s south side.

“As far as I know, it was a water main break under the streets, and it started flooding into the building,” says Andrew Hersey, the owner of the Paperback Exchange bookstore.

Water could be seen flowing around several businesses around West 50th Street and Penn Avenue South.

Those businesses include the Sparrow Cafe, the Italian restaurant Terzo and the Paperback Exchange.

The fire department says the initial flooding left about a foot of water in the surrounding area and that crews have the road blocked off.

“When I came down, I saw the flooding, and the water was just pouring over the edge of the Terzo parking lot,” says Chris Davidson, a neighbor.

A 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS photographer at the scene says the water was shut off around 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

That allowed crews to put sand on the streets to help with traction on the icy streets.  

Early in the afternoon, crews were still looking for the break, which caused the nightmare.

The Minneapolis Fire Department says crews were called to Terzo around 3:30 a.m. for an alarm going off.

A fire wasn’t found but crews spotted a large amount of water flooding out of the restaurant.

They were unable to determine how much water was present, so they requested the city’s Water Department to clear out apartments above the restaurants.

“I was asleep and there was a really loud banging at the door,” recalled Nels Shafter, who was among those evacuated.

“I mean, we get some pretty crazy storms around here, and the street does flood, but I’ve never seen it come upstairs,” he says. “I do feel bad for the businesses; they are on the first floor. They’re going to have water damage; they’ve got stakes in it.”  

Shafer notes his apartment wasn’t damaged.

But that wasn’t the case at the Paperback Exchange.

The bookstore’s basement, holding tens of thousands of books, was flooded all the way up to the ceiling.

The main floor is a mess, with water-soaked books scattered everywhere.

“Water and books don’t mix, so it’s hard to say what’s going to happen here,” Hersey says. “The whole corner was flooded, we had about six inches of water on the main floor, it looks like.”

Meanwhile, homeowners along Oliver Avenue South were notified about the leak and have been asked to move their vehicles so they don’t freeze to the street.

Borders’ restaurants said on social media they are working with the city to understand the amount of damage caused by the “astounding amount” of water, as well as how team members can be supported.

While construction is expected to be happening directly in front of Terzo, they hope street access will be available soon, as Broders’ Cucina Italiana and Broders’ Pasta Bar haven’t been affected and will be open as normal.

With water service shut down during repairs, even businesses not directly impacted are closed.

“Right now, we don’t have any water, and the street is closed,” says Alejandro Victoria, who runs Nico’s Tacos Bar. “But we are in the dry, basically.”

In a later update, the city of Minneapolis said the leak has been identified and isolated.

Water is expected to be restored Thursday night to the remaining three properties whose water is currently shut off.

Crews plan to finish surface road work on Friday to fully reopen the road.

Street maintenance crews will work to clear built-up ice and treat the streets, alleys, and sidewalks.

City officials say that a cause for the leak has not yet been identified, but city building officials have inspected the building where the flooding was first reported and say damage to the foundation is making it unsafe for entry until an engineering assessment can be made.

The city says that the building is stable but some of the windows and entrances will be boarded up until that assessment takes place.

For those hit hard by this frozen flood, a long cleanup ahead and uncertainty.

“The restoration company has to do their thing, and we have to decide what to do, if we can salvage anything, if we can, you know, get back open,” Hersey says. “It’s hard to say at this time.”