"Everybody sleeping, dreaming," said Kwong, who along with her family and the rest of the residents stood barefoot on the sidewalk as firefighters pumped water from their homes. "We didn't know what happened. Lucky the bed was high."

A 12-inch watermain near the 1600 block of Liliha Street, between Kuakini and School street, broke around 1:30 a.m.

Traffic is being contraflowed on Liliha Street between Kuakini and School streets.

See Google Maps for the site of the water main break and affected areas of traffic.

By the time firefighters got to the scene the water in the two-story complex where Kwong's family has lived the past 12 years was nearly three feet high, said Honolulu Fire Department battalion chief Scott Lawton.

"The lane to these apartments is below the road and the water just ran into it," Lawton said. "We're getting the water out of the driveway, we shut off the electricity and after we get the outside cleaned up we'll see what the damage is like on the inside of these places."

Four ground-floor apartments suffered extreme water damage and had to be evacuated. Twenty apartments and houses were without water in the area because of the break, as well as 10 businesses.

See Liliha residents dealing with their flooded apartments in this video.

The gush of water from the break was so powerful it lifted a piece of Liliha Street where a recent repair was made to a watermain. The Board of Water Supply has been working to replace the old mains in the Liliha area, but has had problems with main breaks on the street in the past.

It was a horrendous wakeup call for the families who were evacuated.

"The water was non-stop coming," said Jimmy Kwong, who was standing outside and watching the water get pumped from his home. "I didn't know it where was coming from, what was going on. I was sleeping and my dad woke me up. We got outside and it was, like ... waterway.