Restaurants on Las Olas were turning away customers on Saturday night due to a lack of water; the city doesn't allow restaurants to serve food or alcohol without running water.
Thousands of Broward County residents were without water Saturday night after a major water main break affected pressure in Fort Lauderdale, Oakland Park, Wilton Manors and Pompano Beach, officials said.
City officials said it was likely that customers would be without water overnight.
Emergency crews responded at about 8 p.m. to what appeared to be a break in a 42-inch water line at N.E. 38th Street, between N.E. 5th and N.E. 6th avenues in Oakland Park. As of 9:40 p.m., crews said they didn't know the extent of the damage.
But eyewitnesses reported no major damage in the area and no homes flooded.
Chaz Adams, a Fort Lauderdale spokesman, said the full extent of the damage to the water main wasn't known, but there would probably be no water through the night hours. Once water is restored there will be a boil water advisory in effect, he said.
The main break interrupted many people's Christmas Eve celebrations, with some residents reporting to the Sun Sentinel that they were in the middle of doing the dishes or cooking holiday meals when the water abruptly shut off.
Many residents complained a 24-hour hotline staffed by the City of Fort Lauderdale wasn't taking calls, leaving them with no idea if the problem was in their home or more widespread.
Chaz Adams, a city spokesman, said it wasn't clear Saturday how many homes had been affected, but that most of the City of Fort Lauderdale as well as the surrounding communities of Oakland Park, Wilton Manors and Pompano Beach were without water.
Mike Jachles, a spokesman for the Broward Sheriff's Office, said residents inundated 911 call centers with calls about their water service. He asked that residents only call 911 for life-threatening emergencies, fires or crimes in progress.
"People shouldn't call 911 if their water is outunless their house is on fire," he said.
The Broward Sheriff's Office has extra firefighting equipment that can be used to assist local cities or towns whose fire departments were affected by the drop in water pressure or lack of service, he said.