Audible pops, visible cracks signal Mich. sinkhole is expanding
FRASER, Mich. — Officials in this Detroit suburb worked around the clock Christmas Day to help residents affected by a massive sinkhole, and some may have to spend several weeks away from home, Mayor Joe Nichols said.
The city is working on a plan to allow the residents of the 22 homes forced to evacuate to retrieve their belongings safely while they find temporary housing. Nichols warned residents not to return to the area at 15 Mile Road and Eberlein Drive in the northwest corner of this city of almost 15,000 residents. At any moment, their houses could give way, he said.
"Please stay away from the area," Nichols said. "You could be standing on an area that could collapse up to 60 feet deep," the equivalent of a six-story building.
On Saturday, Nichols declared a state of emergency several hours after the sinkhole emerged. Homeowner Sue Albu and her husband, Jerry, awoke to sounds of popping at about 4 a.m. ET and called police two hours later when bricks in the home where they've lived since 1999 began to splinter.
The slow sinking of the Albu's home is now in its third day, and bystanders can hear cracking sounds every few minutes as the house on the corner bows and the two streets' pavement continues to crack.
The sinkhole opened right at the entrance to Eberlein. A neighbor across Eberlein has a collapsed driveway.
Michael Carnagie, Fraser's mayor pro tem and a paid on-call firefighter, said the Albus' home will be a total loss, and others might be damaged if the sinkhole continues to widen.
As of Monday, a GoFundMe page that Albu's son-in-law, Aaron Marentette, had set up was no longer accepting donations. Almost 75 people had given $4,090 by the time donations were cut off.
Marentette and his wife, Elizabeth, were staying at the home of his wife's parents when the sinkhole opened up. Now they're playing host to the Albus at their home in Shelby Township, Mich.
The Albus have filed an insurance claim but don't yet know what will be covered. If no one is allowed to return to the home because of the danger of collapse, photographs and other keepsakes could be lost.
Electricity, water and gas have been cut to the residential street, and the city is working on a plan to redirect the sewage flow around the area in part because of worries that it could back up in residents' basements. The suspected cause of the sinkhole is a rupture in an 11-foot-wide sewer line about 55 feet underground, what created a sinkhole on 15 Mile Road in August 2004 that took 10 months to repair.
The city is also winterizing the homes that were forced to be abandoned, Nichols said.
While the temperature is forecast to reach a high of 58 degrees Monday, it will plunge below freezing each night, according to the National Weather Service. Starting Tuesday, highs are expected in the 30s dipping into the mid-20s in about a week.
Monday's high and an 80% chance will put a strain on the city's drainage system in the area because of snowmelt, officials said. And they're taking steps to ensure that no wastewater discharges into the Clinton River and its tributaries.
The broken sewer line may be one of the largest in the state, Carnagie said. Officials are waiting on remote-control cameras, so they can look below the surface to properly assess the extent of the damage.
One drawback: The area will need to be dry before it can be accessed via camera.
Once the area is stabilized, the city can turn toward remediation and reconstruction, Nichols said. No timeline has been determined yet.
In 2004, almost a mile stretch of 15 Mile Road was shut down to stabilize and repair that sinkhole. The street was closed between Moravian Drive and Utica Road, a portion that included its intersection with Eberlein Drive.
The Albus, who bought their three-bedroom, 2½-bath home on a little more than a quarter acre in 1999, were affected because of the 2004 closure but didn't try to move. They bought the 1,800-square-foot home, built in 1998, for $207,500; it was estimated to be worth about $250,000 in 2016, according to Zillow.
Sue Albu said Saturday that the sinkhole problem then appeared to be solved.
"There were no indications that this could happen," she said.
Audible pops, visible cracks signal Mich. sinkhole is expanding
FRASER, Mich. — A massive sinkhole in this Detroit suburb will force the shutdown of a major road for months and is larger than a sinkhole that opened up 12 years ago on the same road, city and county officials said Monday.
The 100-foot-wide, 250-foot-long sinkhole discovered Christmas Eve already has partially collapsed one home on the corner of 15 Mile Road and Eberlein Drive. The August 2004 sinkhole shut down part of 15 Mile Road for 10 months and cost $53 million to repair; this one could take longer to fix.
While the cause of the sinkhole is still undetermined, it has been traced to a collapsed 11-foot-wide sewer line about 45 feet underground. The sinkhole affected a gas main, water main and sanitary sewer tank, forcing this city of almost 15,000 residents to shut off utilities to the area.
“We will get through this, we will be OK and we will go home,” Mayor Joe Nichols told residents at a Monday meeting.
Some residents of the 22 homes forced to evacuate Saturday were allowed to return to collect belongings, but those closer to the crater may have to wait as long as two weeks to return home. The worry: At any moment, the ground could give way.
"Please stay away from the area," Nichols said. "You could be standing on an area that could collapse up to 60 feet deep," the equivalent of a six-story building.
On Saturday, Nichols declared a state of emergency several hours after the sinkhole emerged. Homeowner Sue Albu and her husband, Jerry, awoke to sounds of popping at about 4 a.m. ET and called police two hours later when bricks in the home where they've lived since 1999 began to splinter.
The slow sinking of the Albu's home is now in its third day, and bystanders can hear cracking sounds every few minutes as the house on the corner bows and the two streets' pavement continues to crack.
The sinkhole opened right at the entrance to Eberlein. A neighbor across Eberlein has a collapsed driveway.
Michael Carnagie, Fraser's mayor pro tem and a paid on-call firefighter, said the Albus' home will be a total loss, and others might be damaged if the sinkhole continues to widen.
As of Monday, a GoFundMe page that Albu's son-in-law, Aaron Marentette, had set up was no longer accepting donations. Almost 75 people had given $4,090 by the time donations were cut off.
Sinkhole opens up in suburban Detroit, damages home
Marentette and his wife, Elizabeth, were staying at the home of his wife's parents when the sinkhole opened up. Now they're playing host to the Albus at their home in Shelby Township, Mich.
The Albus have filed an insurance claim but don't yet know what will be covered. If no one is allowed to return to the home because of the danger of collapse, photographs and other keepsakes could be lost.
On Eberlein Drive, utility workers cut electric, water and gas service, and the city is working on a plan to redirect the sewage flow around the area in part because of worries that it could back up in residents' basements.
“The No. 1 objective of this project was basically to make sure that with the collapse occurring, we don’t have any significant basement backups,” said Scott Lockwood, executive vice president of Anderson, Eckstein and Westrick civil engineers. The Shelby Township, Mich., firm has been brought on to help stabilize the situation.
While Monday's high was 55 degrees, temperatures will plunge below freezing each night, according to the National Weather Service. Starting Tuesday, highs are expected in the 30s dipping into the mid-20s in about a week.
Rain in the forecast could put a strain on the city's drainage system in the area because of snowmelt. Lockwood said engineers would consider dumping raw sewage into the Clinton River as a last resort if faced with the possibility of overflows.
The city also is winterizing the homes that were forced to be abandoned, Nichols said.
The broken sewer line may be one of the largest in the state, Carnagie said. Officials are waiting on remote-control cameras, so they can look below the surface to properly assess the extent of the damage.
One drawback: The area will need to be dry before it can be accessed via camera.
Once the area is stabilized, the city can turn toward remediation and reconstruction, Nichols said. No timeline has been determined yet.
In 2004, almost a mile stretch of 15 Mile Road was shut down to stabilize and repair that sinkhole. The street was closed between Moravian Drive and Utica Road, a portion that included its intersection with Eberlein Drive.
The Albus, who bought their three-bedroom, 2½-bath home on a little more than a quarter acre in 1999, were affected because of the 2004 closure but didn't try to move. They bought the 1,800-square-foot home, built in 1998, for $207,500; it was estimated to be worth about $250,000 in 2016, according to Zillow.
Ted Leszkiewicz, who lives at the southern end of Eberlein, said he moved into his home just one month before the 2004 sinkhole. This time around, he said it kept his 8-year-old daughter from spending Christmas Day at home.
“She was devastated to be ripped out of her home on Christmas Eve,” Leszkiewicz said. “But she’s doing great. We’re probably going to go up North for a while and get away from the whole situation.”
Sewage pumped in Detroit-area river after sinkhole forms
FRASER, Mich. (AP) — Officials say crews have begun pumping sewage into a Detroit-area river to prevent flooding after a sinkhole forced people from their homes and closed roads.
Clinton Township Supervisor Bob Cannon told WWJ-AM on Monday that the Clinton River discharge was necessary, though officials hoped to avoid it.
Officials say the sinkhole, which formed Saturday in neighboring Fraser, is 250 feet long and 100 feet wide — larger than one in 2004 that caused a section of roadway to cave in.
People in about two dozen homes have been evacuated. Consulting engineer Scott Lockwood says they aim to get to residents back in homes within two weeks, but three homes are considered unsafe.
Mayor Joseph Nichols, who declared a state of emergency, told residents the goal is to get answers.
The city is working on a plan to allow the residents of the 22 homes forced to evacuate to retrieve their belongings safely while they find temporary housing. Nichols warned residents not to return to the area at 15 Mile Road and Eberlein Drive in the northwest corner of this city of almost 15,000 residents. At any moment, their houses could give way, he said.
"Please stay away from the area," Nichols said. "You could be standing on an area that could collapse up to 60 feet deep," the equivalent of a six-story building.
On Saturday, Nichols declared a state of emergency several hours after the sinkhole emerged. Homeowner Sue Albu and her husband, Jerry, awoke to sounds of popping at about 4 a.m. ET and called police two hours later when bricks in the home where they've lived since 1999 began to splinter.
The slow sinking of the Albu's home is now in its third day, and bystanders can hear cracking sounds every few minutes as the house on the corner bows and the two streets' pavement continues to crack.
The sinkhole opened right at the entrance to Eberlein. A neighbor across Eberlein has a collapsed driveway.
Michael Carnagie, Fraser's mayor pro tem and a paid on-call firefighter, said the Albus' home will be a total loss, and others might be damaged if the sinkhole continues to widen.
As of Monday, a GoFundMe page that Albu's son-in-law, Aaron Marentette, had set up was no longer accepting donations. Almost 75 people had given $4,090 by the time donations were cut off.
Marentette and his wife, Elizabeth, were staying at the home of his wife's parents when the sinkhole opened up. Now they're playing host to the Albus at their home in Shelby Township, Mich.
The Albus have filed an insurance claim but don't yet know what will be covered. If no one is allowed to return to the home because of the danger of collapse, photographs and other keepsakes could be lost.
Electricity, water and gas have been cut to the residential street, and the city is working on a plan to redirect the sewage flow around the area in part because of worries that it could back up in residents' basements. The suspected cause of the sinkhole is a rupture in an 11-foot-wide sewer line about 55 feet underground, what created a sinkhole on 15 Mile Road in August 2004 that took 10 months to repair.
The city is also winterizing the homes that were forced to be abandoned, Nichols said.
While the temperature is forecast to reach a high of 58 degrees Monday, it will plunge below freezing each night, according to the National Weather Service. Starting Tuesday, highs are expected in the 30s dipping into the mid-20s in about a week.
Monday's high and an 80% chance will put a strain on the city's drainage system in the area because of snowmelt, officials said. And they're taking steps to ensure that no wastewater discharges into the Clinton River and its tributaries.
The broken sewer line may be one of the largest in the state, Carnagie said. Officials are waiting on remote-control cameras, so they can look below the surface to properly assess the extent of the damage.
One drawback: The area will need to be dry before it can be accessed via camera.
Once the area is stabilized, the city can turn toward remediation and reconstruction, Nichols said. No timeline has been determined yet.
In 2004, almost a mile stretch of 15 Mile Road was shut down to stabilize and repair that sinkhole. The street was closed between Moravian Drive and Utica Road, a portion that included its intersection with Eberlein Drive.
The Albus, who bought their three-bedroom, 2½-bath home on a little more than a quarter acre in 1999, were affected because of the 2004 closure but didn't try to move. They bought the 1,800-square-foot home, built in 1998, for $207,500; it was estimated to be worth about $250,000 in 2016, according to Zillow.
Sue Albu said Saturday that the sinkhole problem then appeared to be solved.
"There were no indications that this could happen," she said.
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| © Provided by Detroit Free Press |
Audible pops, visible cracks signal Mich. sinkhole is expanding
FRASER, Mich. — A massive sinkhole in this Detroit suburb will force the shutdown of a major road for months and is larger than a sinkhole that opened up 12 years ago on the same road, city and county officials said Monday.
The 100-foot-wide, 250-foot-long sinkhole discovered Christmas Eve already has partially collapsed one home on the corner of 15 Mile Road and Eberlein Drive. The August 2004 sinkhole shut down part of 15 Mile Road for 10 months and cost $53 million to repair; this one could take longer to fix.
While the cause of the sinkhole is still undetermined, it has been traced to a collapsed 11-foot-wide sewer line about 45 feet underground. The sinkhole affected a gas main, water main and sanitary sewer tank, forcing this city of almost 15,000 residents to shut off utilities to the area.
“We will get through this, we will be OK and we will go home,” Mayor Joe Nichols told residents at a Monday meeting.
Some residents of the 22 homes forced to evacuate Saturday were allowed to return to collect belongings, but those closer to the crater may have to wait as long as two weeks to return home. The worry: At any moment, the ground could give way.
"Please stay away from the area," Nichols said. "You could be standing on an area that could collapse up to 60 feet deep," the equivalent of a six-story building.
On Saturday, Nichols declared a state of emergency several hours after the sinkhole emerged. Homeowner Sue Albu and her husband, Jerry, awoke to sounds of popping at about 4 a.m. ET and called police two hours later when bricks in the home where they've lived since 1999 began to splinter.
The slow sinking of the Albu's home is now in its third day, and bystanders can hear cracking sounds every few minutes as the house on the corner bows and the two streets' pavement continues to crack.
The sinkhole opened right at the entrance to Eberlein. A neighbor across Eberlein has a collapsed driveway.
Michael Carnagie, Fraser's mayor pro tem and a paid on-call firefighter, said the Albus' home will be a total loss, and others might be damaged if the sinkhole continues to widen.
As of Monday, a GoFundMe page that Albu's son-in-law, Aaron Marentette, had set up was no longer accepting donations. Almost 75 people had given $4,090 by the time donations were cut off.
Sinkhole opens up in suburban Detroit, damages home
Marentette and his wife, Elizabeth, were staying at the home of his wife's parents when the sinkhole opened up. Now they're playing host to the Albus at their home in Shelby Township, Mich.
The Albus have filed an insurance claim but don't yet know what will be covered. If no one is allowed to return to the home because of the danger of collapse, photographs and other keepsakes could be lost.
On Eberlein Drive, utility workers cut electric, water and gas service, and the city is working on a plan to redirect the sewage flow around the area in part because of worries that it could back up in residents' basements.
“The No. 1 objective of this project was basically to make sure that with the collapse occurring, we don’t have any significant basement backups,” said Scott Lockwood, executive vice president of Anderson, Eckstein and Westrick civil engineers. The Shelby Township, Mich., firm has been brought on to help stabilize the situation.
While Monday's high was 55 degrees, temperatures will plunge below freezing each night, according to the National Weather Service. Starting Tuesday, highs are expected in the 30s dipping into the mid-20s in about a week.
Rain in the forecast could put a strain on the city's drainage system in the area because of snowmelt. Lockwood said engineers would consider dumping raw sewage into the Clinton River as a last resort if faced with the possibility of overflows.
The city also is winterizing the homes that were forced to be abandoned, Nichols said.
The broken sewer line may be one of the largest in the state, Carnagie said. Officials are waiting on remote-control cameras, so they can look below the surface to properly assess the extent of the damage.
One drawback: The area will need to be dry before it can be accessed via camera.
Once the area is stabilized, the city can turn toward remediation and reconstruction, Nichols said. No timeline has been determined yet.
In 2004, almost a mile stretch of 15 Mile Road was shut down to stabilize and repair that sinkhole. The street was closed between Moravian Drive and Utica Road, a portion that included its intersection with Eberlein Drive.
The Albus, who bought their three-bedroom, 2½-bath home on a little more than a quarter acre in 1999, were affected because of the 2004 closure but didn't try to move. They bought the 1,800-square-foot home, built in 1998, for $207,500; it was estimated to be worth about $250,000 in 2016, according to Zillow.
Ted Leszkiewicz, who lives at the southern end of Eberlein, said he moved into his home just one month before the 2004 sinkhole. This time around, he said it kept his 8-year-old daughter from spending Christmas Day at home.
“She was devastated to be ripped out of her home on Christmas Eve,” Leszkiewicz said. “But she’s doing great. We’re probably going to go up North for a while and get away from the whole situation.”
Sewage pumped in Detroit-area river after sinkhole forms
FRASER, Mich. (AP) — Officials say crews have begun pumping sewage into a Detroit-area river to prevent flooding after a sinkhole forced people from their homes and closed roads.
Clinton Township Supervisor Bob Cannon told WWJ-AM on Monday that the Clinton River discharge was necessary, though officials hoped to avoid it.
Officials say the sinkhole, which formed Saturday in neighboring Fraser, is 250 feet long and 100 feet wide — larger than one in 2004 that caused a section of roadway to cave in.
People in about two dozen homes have been evacuated. Consulting engineer Scott Lockwood says they aim to get to residents back in homes within two weeks, but three homes are considered unsafe.
Mayor Joseph Nichols, who declared a state of emergency, told residents the goal is to get answers.
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