A ruptured water main in North Vancouver created a large sinkhole and flooded at least eight basements Monday afternoon.
Firefighters say the eight-inch main burst around 4:30 p.m. near Lynn Valley and Hoskins roads.
Water flow to the area has since been turned off.
District of North Vancouver Fire Service Asst. Chief Mike Cairns said that two homes downstream from the rupture had "substantial" basement flooding, while a further six took in smaller amounts of water.
The water flow also created a large sinkhole in the street, which Cairns estimated would take several hours to repair.
"There is a significant amount of damage to the road," he said.
Cairns said it was too early to tell what caused the main to break, but added that the pipes in the area are quite old.
"There's no way of knowing when one is going to rupture."
