About 6:30 a.m. Wednesday residents along route 47 in Port Elizabeth, Cumberland County noticed the water coming up fast.
Brown, muddy water washed over local roads, a paddock, and surrounded an estimated ten houses.
The water came from one of two large sand dredge pits located uphill at a nearby gravel company.
It's thought the recent heavy rains may have played a role in causing a 250 foot breech of the earthen levee that contains the pond.
While most residents were able to walk out of their home, firefighters used a boat to pick up an 81-year-old woman.
At the source of the floodwater, construction equipment moved tons of earth and sand to repair the levee. By mid-afternoon the water flow was stopped. Downhill large capacity pumps were brought in to try to lower the water that surrounded the flooded homes.
With the breech now contained, the pumping out and clean up continues.
