Water spurted 30 feet into the air when a water pipe burst in Whitehawk.
The stream of water poured over people’s homes in Wiston Road.
Roads were turned into streams as the water ran down the hill from the top of the estate.
The leak, at about 8pm on Saturday, January 12 took until midnight to be fully repaired.
About 30 people are thought to have lost their water supply while it was being repaired.
Neighbour Elouise Upton, who spotted the leak, said: “It must have been about 30 feet high, it was crazy.
“I saw some flashing lights from my balcony and went to have a look.
“My fiancé said there was chalk, grass and mud all over the road where the pipe had burst and it had squirted everywhere.
“I just think the water built up to a point where the pipe couldn’t take it anymore and just erupted.
“It took them about two hours to stop the water coming out and they were still drilling into the ground at 11.30pm.”
Southern Water said an inspector was on site within an hour of the leak being reported.
The spokesman said that weaknesses in pipes can often break when temperatures drop and the ground is sodden.
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