FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A sewage main break was reported Thursday morning in the vicinity of George English Park in Fort Lauderdale, city officials confirmed.

The city of Fort Lauderdale Public Works Department is investigating the incident at 1101 Bayview Drive.

Sky 10 was above the scene shortly before 9 a.m. as a portion of the roadway was flooded.

“This morning, I got up to take the dog out and smelled the smell and I thought it was coming from the river over here behind me, so I decided to come over here and investigate and I couldn’t believe the deepness of the water,” Forrest Edwards, who lives nearby, said.

While the source of the break is at George English Park, the sewage is backing up into the storm drains in the area, causing surface flooding and causing the contaminated water to spill into the Middle River.

“The way it’s getting into the Middle River is the break is over behind us. There’s some storm water catch basins there that do -- in a normal rainy event -- transmit storm water from this area over to the river -- in this case, it’s transmitting wastewater over to the river,” city manager Chris Lagerbloom said.

Local 10 News reporter Terrell Forney confirmed that the break is on the same 42-inch sewer line that spans the city and has ruptured in different areas in the past.

“We have crews out here right now removing the water from the Bayview Drive," Fort Lauderdale spokesman Chaz Adams said. “Once that water is removed, they will start digging so that they can identify the exact area of the break and assess the damage to the pipe. Once they make that assessment, they will come up with the correct strategy in terms of how to best repair it and how to best address it.”

Due to the sewer main break, a precautionary advisory for water-related recreational activities is in effect for the area from Northeast 26th Street to Las Olas Boulevard and from North Victoria Park Road to the Intracoastal Waterway.

“We obviously have a plan in place to build a redundant line, and that contract has been awarded and work is moving forward. It just takes some time to get pipes of this size into the ground two months into a 16-month project,” Lagerbloom said.