RALEIGH, N.C. — Raleigh city crews worked nearly all day to fix a water main break at Lake Boone and Dixie Trail in Raleigh.

The break cut off service to nearby homes.

One of those most affected was resident Gail Keeter.

At 4:30 a.m. Keeter got a knock on her door -- it was the police telling her a water main had broken in the street in front of her home.

She flipped on the lights and couldn't believe what she saw: water literally rushing across her property like a river.

The water flowed around where her Christmas lights were plugged in, and she didn't dare step out of the house for fear she might be electrocuted.

It would have been an inconvenience for most people, but for Keeter it was a nightmare.

"It sounded like a river coming right through the front yard. I put my boots on and stepped out and it rushed right over my boots," said Keeter, who turned off the outside lights before venturing into the water.

Because of its proximity to the break, Keeter's property and home were flooded.

"It's just an amazing thing," Keeter said. "I just am at awe at what water can do when it's moving that fast."

A Titanic bell that adorns Keeter's front porch ominously foreshadows what happened next. Keeter says her home felt like a sinking ship as the water literally rocked it from its foundation.

"The engineer came and it shifted right here, so he went under the house and water is bubbling up under the foundation," Keeter said.

Keeter's Christmas lights are now a soggy mess -- a mess she has to clean up. It's not exactly how she expected to spend the holiday season.

"This is not my idea of Christmas," Keeter said.

What she hopes to get for Christmas now is some help from the city in paying for the damage to her home.

The water main was repaired at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday and service was restored.