A 24-inch water main break in Bridgeport impacted a large area of the city Thursday including Bridgeport Hospital and nearby schools, according to Aquarion Water Company. It happened on River Street near North Washington Avenue around 3:30 a.m., causing flooding in that area, city leaders said.

Police closed off North Washington Avenue and River Street, Knowlton and River streets, as well as River and Evergreen streets as crews worked to repair the water main.

Thousands of people were initially without water, but workers were able to isolate the break within a couple hours and get that number down to 40, said George Logan, director of community relations for Aquarion. The bigger, far-reaching issue was the amount of people who had discolored brown water from the break. Logan said the eastern and southern parts of the city, as well as part of Stratford, were affected. It led to two Bridgeport elementary schools dismissing early, and Bridgeport Hospital having to delay some procedures.

Logan initially said the water main should be fixed around 5 p.m. That was later pushed back to 7:30 p.m.

"Once that occurs, Aquarion and its workers will start flushing the areas. Now, we cannot flush the entire southern portion of Bridgeport all at the same time. We have to isolate certain areas, so we're going to prioritize the areas around Bridgeport Hospital first," Logan explained at an afternoon news conference. "We expect to see a vast improvement in terms of the clarity of the water immediately at the hospital and around the hospital. And then we will continue flushing until all areas are clear and are not experiencing any discolored water."

Until then, people with discolored water are reminded that it's not safe for consumption. City leaders reminded them to use bottled water for drinking, cooking and pets. Logan said the company delivered pallets of bottled water to the hospital and will do the same tomorrow for any schools still affected.

Bridgeport City Council President Aidee Nieves asked people to be patient.

"Please understand that it's going to take a little bit of time and Aquarion is working diligently to restore quality services back to the city of Bridgeport, to our residents," Nieves stated.

Logan told News 12 that crews had to work carefully on the repair because there's a gas main right next to the water main. Still, he said the company expects water and service to be at 100% Friday.

Nieves said the road will take a little longer to fix. River Street, including the bridge, should be repaired by the end of the day Friday, according to Nieves.