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Family's Home Destroyed By Water Main Break

PITSBURGH (KDKA) – A family lost everything as water poured into their basement early Sunday morning in Lincoln Place.

Lisa DonGiovanni panicked when she heard, and then saw, hundreds of gallons of water from a broken main on Mifflin Road rushing down the hillside.

It was headed straight for her home on Keefe Street.

"It was like a river," DonGiovanni said. "It just came down through the two yards and down into our driveway."

Within minutes, her basement was filled with 3 feet of water, lifting her freezer and refrigerator. DonGiovanni managed to save her TV, but everything else in her basement was destroyed.

"We lost everything," she said, "our furniture. It's a finished basement. Our furniture, our washer, our dryer, I don't know if the insurance company – the water company – I don't know where I'm going to go."

In addition, decorations and table cloths she had purchased for an upcoming graduation party were also floating in the basement. Flood waters also caused heavy damage to a Ford Explorer parked in the garage.

"We'll just start over," DonGiovanni said. "Nothing you can do. I did my crying already this morning."

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