The UCLA campus found itself underwater Tuesday after a nearly century-old pipe burst, damaging newly constructed and repaired facilities.

A 93-year old, 30-inch pipe burst at around 3:30pm, creating a 15-foot hole in the street and sending 30-feet of water spraying into the air. After over three hours of water spillage, officials were finally able to turn the pipe off.  

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The water pipe could carry up to 75,000 gallons of water per minute when it was functioning well.

According to Gene Block, Chancellor of UCLA, the campus served as a basin for the water source.

Paul Koretz, City Councilman, said they lost around 35,000 gallons of water per minute.

Firefighters were forced to use inflatable boats to rescue five people left stranded behind dozens of cars.

There were three buildings damaged including the Pauley Pavilion, the arena, and the J.D. Morgan Center.

The Pauley Pavilion, a symbolic structure for UCLA, was refurbished just few years ago and has been totally devastated by the flood.

Locker rooms of the arena which were part of a US$132M renovation in October 2012, were also totally flooded.  

Jack Powazek, Administrative Vice Chancellor, stated that the school needs to make contingency plans after what had happened.

According to Jim McDaniel of the Department of Water and Power, no city is exempt when it comes to aging infrastructures.

McDaniel added that during the incident crews were struggling to find which valves needed to be shut off in order to not affect other water services.

He estimated that the broken main released 8 million to 10 million gallons of water.

Summer school classes and research will resume on Wednesday but summer recreational activities have been cancelled.

UCLA also arranged transportation for those whose cars are still inaccessible.

Although the incident left some students and faculty concerned over damage to vehicles and rooms, others saw the pooled water as a chance to take a dip.

The burst pipe comes at a time when residents have been threatened with a US$500 fine for overuse of water.

According to reports, 23 percent of California is experiencing a state of "exceptional drought," and rural communities have seen shortages of drinking water since February of this year.

TagsUCLA, UCLA pipe burst, california drought, UCLA flooded, UCLA flood