Residents of a Surrey neighborhood have been evacuated from their homes after a large sinkhole opened up in the English village.
The sinkhole, located on Godstone High Street, first appeared on Monday night, Feb. 17, theBBCreported on Wednesday, Feb. 19. According to the outlet, the opening has reached at least 65 feet since then.
Godstone High Street is approximately 20 miles south of London.
All residents have been accounted for and are safe.
“It’s an absolute nightmare. Dreadful,” resident Tracey Jones, told theAssociated Press. Her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter were evacuated from their home in the area.
The Surrey County Council assistant director for safer communities Carl Bussey said experts are working on keeping people and structures safe. Philip Collins, the deputy dean of engineering at Brunel University of London, told the AP he believes a ruptured water main could be behind the massive collapse.
Godstone, England sinkhole.Carl Court/Getty
Carl Court/Getty
“One of the contributing factors is the local geology, which is sand, and the former land use which is a sand quarry that was located immediately to the west of the sinkhole,” said Collins, an expert in geology and geotechnical engineering.
He continued, “Sand can be strong when compacted as the particles are packed together, but weak when it becomes wet, and particularly if there is a lot of water under pressure.”
According to the AP, a Surrey County spokesperson did not place mines near the sinkhole.
Officials evacuated the area out of an abundance of caution, stating that if the sinkhole continued to grow, collapsing streets and structures could lead to an explosion if pipes burst.
At 9:40 a.m. local time,SES Water, a water supply company servicing east Surrey, West Sussex, west Kent and south London, said in an update that “work overnight to restore supplies to customers” was “successful.”
Surrey County sinkhole.Jordan Pettitt/PA Images via Getty
Jordan Pettitt/PA Images via Getty
“We’d like to thank our customers for their patience whilst our teams worked as part of a multi-agency response to the sinkhole. Our bottled water station at our Godstone Treatment Works site will now close,” the utility company added.
SES Water advised customers that “Due to the potential disturbance of sediment in the water mains,” there could be discoloration, changes in taste or odor in the water.
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“Please be assured there are no health risks associated with drinking this water,” SES Water continued.
source: people.com
