PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — City crews are working to repair a large sinkhole in West Oak Lane after an overnight water main break left dozens of homes without water.
The sinkhole formed at Rodney and Wister Streets, where residents say they have been worried about infrastructure problems for months. Surveillance cameras captured the sound of the road buckling during the incident.
“Before Thanksgiving, our water went off,” said Laverne Taylor, who lives in the neighborhood. Taylor said the issue grew from low water pressure, then a small hole, and now a massive sinkhole.
Philadelphia Water Department spokesperson Brian Rademaekers said workers were first alerted to the problem on December 17.
“There’s a good chance that the street was already starting to sink or there were other issues in November, but we didn’t know about it until someone called it in,” Rademaekers said.
When crews responded to the main break, they discovered additional problems.
“We had a lot of issues with the sewer,” Rademaekers said. “We’ve been trying to clear debris from it so we could inspect it, and in the course of doing that, we had another break last night.”
The excavation had been underway for weeks before the latest break caused the sinkhole. Repairs are ongoing, and water service remains shut off for 80 homes.
Neighbor Kash Mayfield expressed relief that no one was hurt.
“Just thanking God that nobody got, you know what I mean, and it seems like the city is taking care of it right now,” Mayfield said.
Other residents say the city should have acted sooner.
“Fix the problem,” Taylor said. “You can’t just leave a problem. You can’t just open up the street, fix the pipe and then come back a month later. Things happen. These are old streets, old pipes. Fix these pipes.”
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