Water Line Break Floods Store At Tulsa Hills

Crews are cleaning up at Tulsa Hills Shopping Center after a water main break caused flooding in Best Buy and the water to be shut off at Chili's restaurant. The break is about eight inches long. It caused a lot of water to flow downhill and into the two car bays at Best Buy and flood the store.

The break is in a pipe about 8 feet underground. Crews working the scene say the break happened this morning and that they believe they will have to cut the broken piece out and put in new piping. Officials working to clean up the water say it could take about a day to drain the water and anywhere from three to seven days to dry out the store.

Desiree Benable drove from Kiefer to pick up a vacuum for her father and mother in law for Christmas after getting a call from Best Buy.

"She says we have a major water main break so they were gonna try and make other arrangements if I couldn't get in but luckily I was able to get in," said Benable. 

When she arrived she says she saw water everywhere.

"I just pulled in around over here and saw all the water and then all the water around here so, kinda crazy, yeah looks pretty bad," said Benable.

Craig Dickson got a similar call.

"We just got a phone call that you have to come pick up an order they had a water main break so they were just trying to get everything picked up," said Dickson.

In an email to News On Six Best Buy says they had nearly a NEARLY a foot of water in the car audio installation bay and several inches of water in other parts of the store. They say crews are still working to clean and dry up the mess. Tulsa Hills employees are working shifts at other stores in the area and more inventory being sent to the other Tulsa stores.

"I feel sorry for Best Buy and the Businesses that are affected for the holidays so that's the worst of the situation," said Robin Alexander.

In a news release, Best Buy answered several questions:

WHAT ABOUT STORE PICKUP FOR CUSTOMERS?: We know that some customers have made purchases on BestBuy.com and chose to pick those products up at the Tulsa Hills store. Our customer care teams are reaching out to those customers to arrange for them to be picked up at another location or shipped to their home or business. If a customer is not able to pick up a store pickup product, their credit card will automatically be refunded the purchase price. We are also working to contact customers who have home delivery of appliances or home theater products from the Tulsa Hills store.

HERE CAN CUSTOMERS SHOP? 

• Best Buy Mingo Marketplace: 10303 E 71st St
• Best Buy Tulsa: 5520 E Skelly Drive
• Best Buy Owasso: 9055 N 121st East Ave

The Chilli's next door to Best Buy is also without water and closed for the night. Crews on scene say they think they will have to cut the broken pipe out and replace it. They say they hope to have the water back on by midnight.