About 100 Vicksburg homes were without water this morning when a water main ruptured on Meadowvale Drive.

Dane Lovell, a foreman for the city’s Water Department, said ground movement caused a break in a 6-inch line beneath the residential street in the Sky Farm area near Cedar Hill Cemetery. The line was to be repaired before noon, he said.

&#8220We’re going to put two sleeves on it” to cover about a 16-inch split in the line.

North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield, who lives on Meadowvale, said his wife, Bertha, saw the line break about 7.

&#8220My wife was on her morning walk and it burst on her. It literally scared her half to death.”

The line feeds homes on Sky Farm Avenue, First Avenue, Second Avenue, and a third of Meadowvale, Mayfield said.

After pressure is restored, residents should boil their drinking water at least until Friday at noon, Lovell said. The precaution is needed due to any contaminants that might have entered through the break.

The last significant water line failure in the city was on Sept. 13, 2006, when a 36-inch main line from the water treatment plant on E.W. Haining Road ruptured due to ground movement, leaving the entire city and parts of the county dry within hours. Dozens of city officials and employees searched for several hours in the night for the leak,

The line that ruptured then was the city’s primary line from the treatment plant. It splits into two 24-inch lines running in different directions at Jackson Street.