HOUSTON (AP) — Businesses and schools shut down Thursday after a main line from a plant that supplies water to about half of Houston burst open, submerging vehicles on a flooded freeway and prompting emergency officials in the nation’s fourth-largest city to deploy tanker trucks to mitigate any fire hazards.
Mayor Sylvester Turner said the major break had been valved off but water would continue to flow for the next six to eight hours.
The flooding submerged vehicles on an eastern section of Loop 610, a highway that circles the city.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted early Thursday afternoon that all occupants were out of flooded vehicles.
Water is slowly draining from the freeway after a water main break east of the location flooded all lanes, closing the freeway in both directions, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, at the intersection of 610 and Clinton Drive in east Houston. Businesses and schools shut down Thursday after a main line from a plant that supplies water to about half of Houston burst open, submerging vehicles on a flooded freeway and prompting emergency officials to deploy tanker trucks to mitigate any fire hazards. (Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP) 
Water surges up from under the street from a water main break that flooded Clinton Drive just east of the East Loop 610 on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020 in Houston. The flooding closed the major freeway that circles the city. ( Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP) 
In this aerial photo, water is slowly draining from the freeway after a water main break east of the location flooded all lanes, closing the freeway in both directions, at the intersection of 610 and Clinton Drive, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, in east Houston. Businesses and schools shut down Thursday after a main line from a plant that supplies water to about half of Houston burst open, submerging vehicles on the flooded freeway. (Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP) 
In this aerial photo, water is slowly draining from the freeway after a water main break east of the location flooded all lanes, closing the freeway in both directions, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, at the intersection of 610 and Clinton Drive in east Houston. Businesses and schools shut down Thursday after a main line from a plant that supplies water to about half of Houston burst open, submerging vehicles on the flooded freeway and prompting emergency officials to deploy tanker trucks to mitigate any fire hazards (Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP) 
Workers clean water from the southbound lanes of 610 at Clinton Drive, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, in Houston. Businesses and schools shut down Thursday after a main line from a plant that supplies water to about half of Houston burst open, submerging vehicles on a flooded freeway and prompting emergency officials to deploy tanker trucks to mitigate any fire hazards. (Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP) 
Water rushes by a gas station at Clinton and N. Carolina after a broken water pipe starting flooding of the East Loop 610 Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, in Houston. (Steve Gonzales/Houston Chronicle via AP) 
Water rushes by a gas station at Clinton and N. Carolina in Houston after a broken water pipe starting flooding of East Loop 610 Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020. (Steve Gonzales/Houston Chronicle via AP) 
High water from a water main break floods Clinton Drive just east of the East Loop 610 on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020 in Houston. The flooding closed the major freeway that circles the city. ( Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP) 
High water from a water main break floods the East Loop 610 on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020 in Houston. The flooding closed the major freeway that circles the city. ( Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP) 
High water from a water main break floods the East Loop 610 on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020 in Houston. The flooding closed the major freeway that circles the city. ( Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP) 
An abandoned vehicle sits stalled in floodwaters from a water main break that inundated the East Loop 610 on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020 in Houston. The flooding closed the major freeway that circles the city. ( Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP) 
High water from a water main break floods the East Loop 610 on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020 in Houston. The flooding closed the major freeway that circles the city. ( Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP) 
High water from a water main break floods Clinton Drive just east of the East Loop 610 on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020 in Houston. The flooding closed the major freeway that circles the city. ( Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP) 
A pair of firefighters walk past a water main break that flooded Clinton Drive and a portion of the East Loop 610 on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020 in Houston. The flooding closed the major freeway that circles the city. ( Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP) 
Water surges up from under the street from a water main break that flooded Clinton Drive just east of the East Loop 610 on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020 in Houston. The flooding closed the major freeway that circles the city. ( Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
