The city of Portland will pay to repair the damage caused by a ruptured water main that flooded more than a dozen Northeast Portland homes, Commissioner Amanda Fritz said on Friday.

Fritz said she and Mayor Ted Wheeler conferred and agreed that although the city may not be technically liable for the damage it should make the homeowners “whole.”

It’s unclear how much the city will pay, said Fritz, who serves as the water commissioner. The City Council will be asked to approve the payments and a vote is not yet scheduled, she said.

Fritz’s announcement comes one day after Michael Stuhr, the Portland Water Bureau director, said his agency felt badly about the damage caused by the burst pipe. The rupture was unforeseeable, he said.

The 30-inch cast iron water main broke without warning on March 16 and gushed 40,000 gallons a minute onto Sabin neighborhood streets before being brought under control hours later.

Homeowners reported their basements were flooded, some with more than two feet of water. One said the damage would cost at least $75,000 to repair.

Property owners reportedly had their insurance claims denied because they do not have flood coverage. None had opted for that coverage because their homes are not within a floodplain.

The city’s risk management office also denied the homeowners’ damage claims, saying the city was not responsible for the busted pipe and subsequent deluge. Several homeowners had threatened to file suit over the denials.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

GFriedman@Oregonian.com