A break near a water pumping station in Oakland sent rapidly rushing water down Centre Avenue in Oakland this afternoon, forcing the closing of several streets and flooding basements.

The break occurred in a 20-inch pumping line around 12:30 p.m. on Dithridge Street near Centre. The water poured from a hole in the street. The pavement is crumbled for the width of Dithridge.

By 3 p.m., the water was still flowing down Centre, but it was nothing like the gusher that flowed three to four inches deep at the height of the incident. When that was occurring, water spilled onto the sidewalks as it encountered parked cars, particularly near the intersection with Melwood Avenue.

At a mid-afternoon press conference, Greg Tutsock of the Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority said the exact source of the problem had not been identified, adding that several pumping lines run from the pumping station to the Herron Hill reservoir. But he said as valves are shut, problems with low pressure in Oakland, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill and Greenfield should ease.

UPMC hospitals and the University of Pittsburgh reported no problems.

Two city public schools lost water, Allderdice High in Squirrel Hill and Linden Elementary in Point Breeze, said district spokeswoman Ebony Pugh. Allderdice already was near dismissal, so its school day was not affected. Classes continued at Linden, where water was brought to the school -- bottles of water for drinking and water for buckets to drain toilets.

Water pressure was low at Minadeo Elementary in Squirrel Hill and Sterrett Classical Academy in Point Breeze, but they had water.

The break also affected transportation at Schenley High School, where students using Port Authority buses had to go to another stop.

The broken line pumps water uphill to the Herron Hill Reservoir in the Hill District, so the flow down Centre intensified as water was drawn down from the reservoir.

Eric Graff, a Pitt student, said he was preparing to drive out of a fraternity house parking lot at Centre and Dithridge at 12:30 when "A wall of water came down. It was mayhem for a while."

He said his basement was flooding and other homes in the area had received flooding.

Intersections at Craig, Neville and Millvale were also affected. The water flowed all the way to Neville, where some of it flowed onto Neville and some flowed down a ramp onto the Port Authority's busway.

Streets, or at least intersections, in the area remained closed late this afternoon.

Assistant Fire Chief Jim Crawford said damage seems surprisingly minimal to businesses but he said there is basement flooding to apartments.

Fire Chief Mike Huss said water pressure in the affected neighborhoods is low enough to create problems with fire suppression.

He said that in case of fire, two Public Works Department flusher trucks have been deployed to the area, and the city has asked the Airport Authority to lend it a 5,000-gallon tanker truck that it will post in the area. Fire trucks can tie into those vehicles.

The break occurred at the exact spot where a break caused a similar gusher in 2000.

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More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.