Residents were left scrambling to protect their homes when a water main burst and sent water gushing inside.
Water from the broken pipe flooded a number of homes as residents in Hebburn, South Tyneside, grabbed brushes and sandbags in a desperate bid to stem the tide.
Jan Holmes, 40, said her home "smelled" and suffered some damage after water rushed in on Sunday afternoon, just weeks before Christmas.
She told ChronicleLive that that she grabbed sandbags to protect her house as water gushed from the main and filled the street.
Ms Holmes said: "It has been flooding in the houses. The whole street has been trying to stop sweep it away. It has flooded the estate.
"There was nine of us out and we lifted a drain lid and swept it into that."
Ms Holmes, who has lived in the street for seven years, said that her house was damaged by the water.
"It did come in the back way," she said. "I have had to bleach it because it smelled and there is a little bit of damage, under the floor is peeling. I had thought and come in to move the furniture."
She said that they waited hours for someone to come and help them.
"Northumbrian Water came out with a pump but by the time they got there we had done most of it," she said. "It is frustrating that it took someone that long to come out, but I don't know where they had come from."
Flooding on the street is a regular issue when it rains, Ms Holmes added.
"Basically every time there is heavy rain the drains flood," she said.
"We have had people out to look at it but it is still going on. It is frustrating because I have made a nice home and it gets damaged."
A spokesman for Northumbrian Water said: “We were made aware of a water pipe that had been damaged by a third party on Sunday morning in Hebburn.
“Our crews attended immediately to contain the burst and move water around the network, so that we could restore the water supply to those properties affected.
“Because of the size of the pipe there was some localised flooding to the area which we have now cleaned up and are continuing to work hard to complete the repair of the pipe.
“Water has now been restored to most properties and we would like to apologise for any inconvenience and thank those customers who were affected for their patience.”
