( CNN ) -- A huge water main burst under a road in the suburban Baltimore community of Dundalk , Maryland , Friday , sending muddy water erupting over neighborhood streets and down highway ramps , officials said . Muddy water envelops the community of Dundalk , Maryland , on Friday . Many were left without power . The 72-inch main was shut about two hours after it ruptured , Baltimore County Chief Executive Jim Smith told CNN . No injuries were reported , Smith said , but he urged residents to `` shelter in place '' and not to go into the knee- to chest-high water under any circumstances . `` This is not a game , '' Smith warned . Authorities set up a command center near the site of the break and swift-water boat rescue teams were standing by , he added . See water main break damage » . 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 , Johnson said , is the smell . `` Like sewage , '' he said . 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 assisted by ferrying car keys and other items across flooded streets to people who were cut off from their homes by the water . Standing at the corner of Court and McShane streets , Mike Pell , 34 , watched the water slowly recede after the main was shut . Water covered the wheels of his pickup truck . `` My basement 's done , '' he said , pointing to his shoulder to show the height of the water inside , where he and his fiancée had their bedroom . `` 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 going to 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 deluge . It sat a block away in 2 feet of water . 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 not far from the break site said the entire parking lot was flooded . Cathy Geisler said customers were still in the store Friday afternoon when police came to tell everyone to evacuate , except for essential personnel . `` We had customers , we were still doing business , then the electricity went out and we escorted everyone out of the store , '' Geisler said . She and another manager stayed behind in a building with no power . As she spoke on the phone with CNN , Geisler said police had come back to tell them to leave immediately and she abruptly hung up the phone . Aerial video from CNN affiliates WMAR and WBAL showed a collapsed roadway with massive amounts of water exploding over the area . Entire neighborhoods had flooded streets , and many residents were evacuated , authorities said . Eric Braughman , who lives on one of the flooded streets , told CNN he had `` thought something was up '' with the water Thursday when his faucets discharged brownish-orange 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 Company '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 D.C. 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 .
NEW : Residents say water has damaged vehicles , homes and left sewage smell . 72-inch main shut down after about two hours , county official says . CNN affiliate video shows collapsed roadway , massive amounts of water . Nearly 1,000 were without power , according to Baltimore Gas and Electric .