At 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Okaloosa County Water and Sewer officials were notified by staff at Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park of a potential sewage spill at the park. Crews arrived to find a significant leak on a 14-inch force main along the north side of State Road 20 just east of Lancaster Drive near Bluewater Bay.

By 3:30 p.m. the leak was diverted into large holding ponds along the north side of the road.

The Water and Sewer Department estimates that about 253,000 gallons of wastewater escaped from the pipe. About 68,000 gallons flowed into Rocky Bayou, with the remaining 185,000 gallons being contained in the ponds.

"The cause of the spill is not completely certain, but due to the one 20-foot section of pipe being split longitudinally, we suspect lightning was the culprit," Water and Sewer officials said in a news release.

Following the incident, staff was prepared to work through the night to finish repairing the leaking sewer force main, officials said.