( CNN ) -- Water pressure is restored and it is now safe to drink in a Baltimore suburb where a huge water main burst , sending torrents of muddy water coursing over neighborhood streets and down highway ramps , officials said . Muddy water envelops the community of Dundalk , Maryland , on Friday . Many were left without power . `` A bad situation is well in hand , '' Baltimore County chief executive Jim Smith said during a press conference Saturday morning . Crews were still at work inspecting homes and clearing water from flooded basements , he said , `` but the danger is over , the crisis is over . '' A prestressed concrete water pipe burst late Friday afternoon under a road in the suburban Baltimore community of Dundalk . The 72-inch-wide main was shut about two hours after it ruptured , Smith said . No injuries were reported , Smith said , and knee-high to chest-high water had been reduced to 4 inches . Resident David Johnson said he felt helpless as he stood outside his house and watched the dirty brown water creep up his lawn and approach his front door . It stopped , inches away , and his basement stayed dry . The worst part now is the sewage smell , he said . Local public works officials said at least 39 basements in the area were flooded . See water main break damage » . Shannon Woerner was at home in nearby Essex , Maryland , when he heard the news about the water main break and the call for boats . He loaded his kayak in his truck and headed to the scene . `` I just wanted to see if I could help , '' he said . Woerner said he delivered car keys and other items across flooded streets to people who could n't get to their homes . Mike Pell , 34 , watched the water slowly recede after the main was shut . Water covered the wheels of his pickup . `` My basement 's done , '' he said , pointing to his shoulder to show the height of the water inside . He and his fiancee had a bedroom in the basement . `` All of our clothes are ruined , '' he said . He managed to get his two children , ages 2 and 3 , to a dry area on the first floor of the house . `` Now I wonder who 's gon na pay for this . We do n't have flood insurance ; this area does n't flood , '' Pell said , shaking his head . Samantha Hansley , 21 , could only watch from a dry hill and wonder if her truck would survive the flood . It sat in 2 feet of water a block away . Hansley and her boyfriend had been driving out of the floodwaters when they stopped to try to help some stranded drivers . `` Our truck just died , '' she said . A manager at the Box and Save grocery store about a block away from the break said the entire parking lot was flooded . Cathy Geisler said customers were still in the store Friday afternoon when police arrived to tell everyone except for essential personnel to evacuate . `` We were still doing business , then the electricity went out and we escorted everyone out of the store , '' Geisler said . Aerial video from CNN affiliates WMAR and WBAL showed a collapsed roadway covered by torrents of water . Entire neighborhoods had flooded streets , and some residents were evacuated , authorities said . Eric Braughman , who lives on one of the flooded streets , said he had `` thought something was up '' with the water Thursday when his faucets discharged orange-brown water . `` My wife did n't give the baby a bath because it did n't look safe , '' Braughman said . Nearly 1,000 customers were without power , according to Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. 's Web site . The main break is part of a larger issue with failing infrastructure in many U.S. cities , said Kurt Kocher , a spokesman for Baltimore 's Department of Public Works . Kocher cited two other huge main breaks in the Maryland and Washington area that were started from the same type of pipe that burst in Friday 's incident . `` This is a national infrastructure crisis , '' Kocher said . CNN 's Alec Miran in Dundalk , Maryland , contributed to this report .
Water is safe to drink ; pressure has been reduced . Residents said water damaged vehicles , homes and left sewage smell . 72-inch main shut down after about two hours , an official statement . Nearly all were without power , according to Baltimore Gas and Electric .