Residents on W. Linwood Avenue in Turlock awoke to an unpleasant surprise Friday morning when they found portions of their neighborhood flooded from dirty water that spilled out when a levee broke at a nearby dairy.

The levee break of the dairy pond was reported to the Turlock Police Department shortly before 6 a.m. Friday. It occurred in the 4200 block of W. Linwood Avenue and has prompted the closure of W. Linwood between Tegner and Washington roads, according to city officials. It’s unknown at this point how long the roads will be closed off to public access.

The Stanislaus County Department of Environmental Resources has been assisting in the incident, in particular assessing the potential soiled water.

Residents were notified of the incident and were supplied with sandbags to prevent damage to the interior of the residences. Additional sand bags are available for pick up at Water Quality Control located at 901 S. Walnut Road.

It’s unknown at this time what caused the levee to break.

The Turlock Police Department is asking citizen’s to stay away from the area and utilize alternate routes as efforts to rid the streets of soiled water are in process.