Break on Edmonston RD in Bladensburg caused hole. One car in the hole another on the edge. pic.twitter.com/s0F4yciQDb
— WSSC Water News (@WSSCWaterNews) January 27, 2015
#WSSC making progress repairing broken 12" water main Edmonston Rd. Cars removed. 15ft of pipe needs replacement pic.twitter.com/4UXqI60DrB
— WSSC Water News (@WSSCWaterNews) January 27, 2015
Scene earlier Edmonston Rd. Both cars have since been removed. 12" water main can do a lot of damage. pic.twitter.com/q8WZfcBVs1
— WSSC Water News (@WSSCWaterNews) January 27, 2015
Pipe in place at Bladensburg 12" water main. Customers back in service sooner than expected. pic.twitter.com/ezbgAX40jQ
— WSSC Water News (@WSSCWaterNews) January 27, 2015
BLADENSBURG, Md. – A Maryland neighborhood will be cleaning up for a while after a water main broke Tuesday morning, leading to a huge sinkhole that swallowed a silver Honda Accord.
“It’s a pretty dramatic site,” says Jerry Irvine with Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission.
The 12-inch pipe was 90-years old. It gave way about 3:30 a.m.
“All that pressure running through this old pipe caused it to burst,” Irvine says. “A number of families here have had their homes flooded.”
One of those families went through a terrifying ordeal.
A mother, father and their three children were inside the Honda Accord as the street around it began sinking.
Luz Martinez, a neighbor, tells WTOP the family felt the car moving, and they struggled and scrambled to leave.
The family made it out before the sinkhole completely opened up.
“That’s a blessing,” says Bladensburg Mayor Walter James. “You can always replace the material things, but human life is what’s important.”
The family’s car eventually became completely submerged in the large, muddy sinkhole, and a second car was caught on the edge of the collapsed ground.
Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission is working with homeowners who sustained damage. Residents of five homes evacuated because of the flooding.
WSSC says that 77 customers were without water because of the break. Crews needed four hours just to shut off the water before they could begin replacing 15 feet worth of pipe.
Service was restored as of 1:30 p.m., according to WSSC. However Edmonston Road between Decatur Street and Chesapeake Road will remain closed until road repairs are completed.
In December, WSSC repaired 600 water main breaks plus another 374 breaks and leaking pipes so far this month.
Irvine says the Edmonston Road break is an example why the water utility is aggressively replacing aging pipes within its system.
“We have a lot of old, aging infrastructure,” he says.
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