TUKWILA, Wash. — Plumbers across the sound said they are busier than ever dealing with frozen and broken pipes.
Phones are ringing off the hook, at a small Tukwila plumbing company, trying to keep up with the demand.
Ken Kalliainen is the general manager of Aqualine. They’ve been answering a lot more calls than usual during this cold snap.
"Phones have absolutely exploded," Kallianinen said. "It’s been absolutely nuts, a lot of people are suffering right now."
Over the past week plumbing companies like his have been working long hours, dealing with the first extreme cold stretch of the season. Causing a lot of problems for homeowners.
"We had 300 to 400 calls came in over the weekend,” Kalliainen said. “Probably about seven crews out there right now, some HVAC crews, electrical crews out doing some things that pop up when the weather's bad. We got a whole bunch of people out there, doing all they can."
Kalliainen said his crews are working as far south as Olympia and as far north as Marysville. They're working to solve the problems Mother Nature can bring.
“Pipes bursting, water coming through ceilings, through walls, spewing in the garage depending on where the pipe was," Kalliainen said.
Eastside Fire and Rescue in Issaquah told KING 5 they've responded to 312 water line breaks since Sunday morning.
But the issue is plaguing residents and business owners in neighborhoods all over Puget Sound, including in North Central Seattle.
"It was about 12, 12:30 and then I just heard like a loud snap, crack," said Sebastian Lutu, who rents a home in the Greenwood neighborhood.
Lutu took a video of the gushing pipe, where you can hear his reaction in real time. He said, "I don't know what this is. I woke up and this whole thing was busted open... the whole pipe cracked open and busted."
He told KING 5 Monday that the situation led to a stressful day.
"By that time, I was running around, you know, like a chicken with a head cut off, basically," Lutu said.
He said he had trouble finding the main water valve in the house he rents, but it was difficult to get in touch with his landlord because they are out of town for the busy holiday weekend. While the water continued to flow forth, he waited hours for Seattle Public Utilities to respond and help him find it.
"That's like hundreds of gallons of water," he said.
Meanwhile, just blocks away near Greenlake, a woman in a townhome had a similar experience.
"I did open my garage, and the water was just pouring through my garage," said Sara Shifflet.
Shifflet said her next-door neighbor's pipe had burst.
But like Lutu's landlord, she said they, too, were out of town.
"These neighbors weren't home. So the fire department came and I let them up my house, they jumped over the other side of the roof and went down, were able to set off the water and pull off the alarm and figured out that one of the pipes burst in the back," she said.
In the same neighborhood, The Angry Beaver Bar completely flooded from a broken pipe. Its owner said his employees spent the last couple of days cleaning up the mess.
So, what can you do to prevent something like this from happening to your home?
"Put some heaters in your garage or crawl space,” Kalliainen said. “You can let the water drip, through the lines, you're going to want to make sure you also have the outdoor spigots, put those Styrofoam covers on. It's too late to prevent it now, but now you have tips for next time and we'll be out there as soon as we can."