CRANSTON, R.I. — Students and staff were evacuated from an elementary school in Cranston on Wednesday morning after a 12-inch water main ruptured, flooding the first floor of the building.

Paul Vorro, the district's chief operating officer, said 231 students were bused from Edgewood Highlands Elementary School to Park View Middle School, where they remained until 3 p.m. Parents were notified by robo-call. Buses were to bring students home, but they may be running late.

"The Cranston Fire Department took control immediately and told us to cut the power," Vorro said. "We moved the kids upstairs and from there, to Park View."

Vorro isn't sure when the school will reopen, saying there was "extensive flooding" to the school's first floor. 

Providence Water crews are on the scene to repair the broken pipe, which affected service to about 15 homes as well as flooding the elementary school, according to spokesman Dyana Koelsch. She said Providence Water attributes the rupture to the cold weather, which has caused about a dozen pipe breaks since frigid temperatures set in on Christmas Day.