The city of Fort Worth is investigating a telecommunications contractor after workers struck a water main, causing water to shoot several feet into the air and eventually crash into several nearby homes.

Dan Boegner was working from home when he heard a strange noise from outside around 10 a.m.

“The wind was blowing,” Boegner said. “If you looked outside, it was almost like a hurricane.”

Boegner and several others hiked out to a breathtaking view along the Trinity Vista Trail.

According to the city of Fort Worth, a telecommunications company was installing underground utility lines along Trinity Boulevard in Fort Worth when workers drilled through a 33-inch-thick concrete water main.

“When you have a hole in the pipe, the water that is under high pressure comes out of that hole at high pressure, unlike when you have a burst pipe and the water just comes out of the ground. That was flowing through the air,” explained Mary Gugliuzza, spokeswoman for Fort Worth Water.

The break was reported at 10:09 a.m.

Teams from the Fort Worth Waterworks were not involved in the excavations.

Gugliuzza says it took city workers 30 minutes to arrive on the scene and then more than two hours to cut off the affected line and several side valves that were also affected.

She told media that the water was turned off at 12:47 p.m. By that time, five homes along Trinity Vista Trail behind the dig site had sustained water damage.

Susie Clark’s home, where she has lived for 23 years, appears to have suffered the worst damage and may be a total loss. She was at work when a neighbor called to alert her to the situation. One of several trees that had fallen due to the floodwaters blocked access to Clark’s home. Understandably dismayed, she let NBC 5 in to look at the damage.

“My house was destroyed because a bad contractor damaged the water line,” Clark said.

The consequences are reminiscent of the combination of a tornado and a hurricane.

“I couldn’t even open my door because the water was all the way to the floor,” she said, pointing to the water level about two meters above the floor of her entryway.

Gugliuzza says staff are gathering information from all affected homeowners and that the telecommunications company or its contractor will be held liable for the damages.

A drone video shows the extent of the damage: trees, roof shingles were torn down and backyards were devastated.

Martin Pacheco and his wife were at the doctor’s office when it happened.

Pacheco, who owns a landscaping company, walked in and out of his house in disbelief and through his devastated backyard.

He only finished paying off his house six months ago, he told NBC 5.

There is another issue the city is investigating. Companies are required to call 811 and request “location details” before beginning any excavation.

“A request was made at the beginning of August, but nothing has happened since then. We responded at the time by asking them to stop the work,” said Gugliuzza.

She did not go so far as to say that the teams had worked without appropriate authorization.

“Lawyers and risk people have to discuss this,” she said.

Clark says she is especially grateful for her neighbors, who have all come together to help each other with the cleanup.

“I’m just lucky that me and my cats are still alive and I’ll deal with what I have to deal with. 72 years, this isn’t going to kill me,” she said. “It’s devastating and I hope like crazy that whoever caused this doesn’t have a job tomorrow. Then I hope they make him pay for some of it because it’s going to cost a lot of money to fix my house.”