Herna Agresor woke up Sunday morning in her basement, feeling a little chilly and damp. She got up from bed and her feet went straight into freezing water.

"I rushed upstairs to my mother.  I didn't even pick up my purse or jacket," said Agresor. Thirty minutes later, the water gushing in from all directions filled the basement, almost touching the ceiling.

"Everything I had was in the basement ... it's all gone," said Agresor.

Of six badly affected houses, the basements of five were flooded after a water main broke on Hillary Ave., near Keele and Rogers Sts.

Water came close to lapping at the ceilings in three basements, said firefighters who spent all day pumping it out. In some cases, it ruined storage sheds and almost crept up the main floors too.

"It's a major disaster," said Robin Sanders, fire platoon chief for Toronto West. "You couldn't even see the basement stairs ... there was so much water all around."

The break occurred about 9 a.m., when the temperature was -10C.

An 89-year-old, 15-centimetre, cast iron water line between houses broke, flooding the homes, which are in a low-lying area, city officials said. The pipe was buried in front of 51 and 53 Hillary Ave.

On average, water mains in Toronto are about 55 years old. The chance of breaks increases with the onset of cold weather after milder periods. A quick freeze of wet soil adds pressure to the mains, often causing them to rupture.

Residents of the affected homes – Nos. 49 to 59 – were evacuated and hydro and gas turned off.

City crews immediately began repairing the pipe.

"(The cold weather) makes it a little more dangerous for crews to work," said Lou Di Gironimo, general manager of Toronto Water. Frozen ground is harder to dig up, slowing excavation, he said.

Initially, homeowners were told they would not be able to return home until Monday. But by midday Sunday, it was clear it might be a longer wait because some of the flooded area was settling.

The area around Nos. 53 and 55 is sinking the most, said a police officer.

It was all too much for Agresor to watch – she and her mother, Primitiva, spent the day at a neighbour's home. The family had bought No. 55, a double-storey red brick house, just a month ago and had just settled in.

Now they don't know what's happening with the house. Agresor said she had many important documents in the basement, along with a computer, TV and furniture.

"We don't even have any family in Toronto," said Agresor. "Don't know what we'll do."

Across the street, Elizabeth Goncalves sat crying in a TTC bus.

The 37-year-old lives in the basement of No. 59.

Goncalves was at her brother's home and got a call from her niece and nephew who live on the main floor. She rushed to Hillary Ave. to find about two metres of water sloshing in the basement.

"I'll stay at my brother's place tonight, but I have lost everything in there," said Goncalves, whose husband recently died.

Fatima Martins, who lives across the street on higher ground, said water often plays havoc with the neighbourhood. During heavy rain, water gushes down the street and sewers can't keep up, she said.

"These are aged pipes in a low-lying area and this is considered a flood zone – that's a recipe for disaster," said Martins. "You would think the city would have done something about it a lot earlier."

Raveena Aulakh

Staff Reporter

With files from Madeleine White