With the force of a giant waterfall, the dam burst,launching a wall of water 18 meters high down the funnel toward Johnstown faster than warnings could be sounded.
VOA: standard.2010.04.26
Scores of homes and businesses were evacuated in Merseyside after a water main burst, sending a plume of water 40ft (12m) into the air.
Nationwide, 250, 000 water lines burst a year, or about one every two minutes, flooding and closing streets, interrupting water service, and requiring residents to boil water for safety, wrote New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg in a special series on water issues.