PORT ANGELES — The city’s high-tech computer system detected Tuesday morning’s water main break when it sensed something wrong at Peabody Heights Reservoir at 2:56 a.m.
Melissa McComb was alerted at 3:07 a.m. the old-fashioned way — her dog woke her up.
“She heard (the water), and I just kept telling her, ‘Go back to sleep, Cloey, go back to sleep,”‘ said McComb, who lives on South Francis Street.
“As I began waking up, I heard what sounded like a fan. Then I realized it wasn’t a fan and looked out the window.
“It looked like a river. It was eerie, the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.”
McComb was the first person to call 9-1-1 about the water main break, which sent an estimated 3.8 million gallons down Park Avenue, into neighboring homes and finally into Peabody Creek.
McComb and Cloey, her Jack Russell terrier, went out to survey the amazing scene.
The cascading water was sending large rocks down Park Avenue and causing a street sign to wave violently back and forth, she said.