A number of businesses in downtown Abbotsford were forced to close their doors Thursday morning after a broken water main sent a stream of water down the sidewalk and into shops along Essendene Avenue.

The water appeared to be gushing from an underground pipe located on the southeast corner of the intersection with Pauline Street.

Liquidation World at 33710 Essendene Ave. was flooded, with employees stacking merchandise above inches deep, dirty water pooling in parts of the store.

"It's a mess," said employee Deb Hebert, trying to sweep the water towards the front of the store and out the door.

Customers noticed the problem around 11: 30 a.m. and had to be escorted out the store's back door, said Hebert.

Assistant manager Eileen Hopkins and other clerks were still scrambling at 1: 30 p.m. to keep the oncoming water from damaging stock in the store's back warehouse and furniture showroom.

"Liquidation World is going to liquidate real soon," said Hopkins.

She and two other clerks were busy at work hauling love seats and appliances onto wooden pallets and constructing blanket barricades around rows of couches.

Mike Wong, owner of the Happy Hour café next door, was also struggling to keep the water at bay.

Although the restaurant wasn't badly flooded like the adjacent retail store, water was beginning to trickle into his living area in the basement.

Wong discovered the problem while working at his kitchen sink.

He turned on the tap and a geyser of water suddenly came shooting out.

He shut the doors to his business because he didn't want people slipping on the wet floor.

Most of the businesses on the south side of the block between Pauline and Montrose were forced to close.

City of Abbotsford workers at the site suspect the main was probably cracked by the recent cold snap.

Water could be seen gushing up between cracks in the pavement and water grates.

They barred pedestrians from the corner due to concerns the soil foundation beneath the sidewalk and paving stones had been washed away.

A pond also formed at the bottom of the hill at West Railway Street, impeding traffic for some time before the drains were shoveled free of snow and debris.

RBaker@abbotsfordtimes.com