Sinkhole Traps Residents In McLoud

Dozens of families were stuck at home over the weekend because a sinkhole separated their road in two.

On Southeast 121st Street in McLoud, after the first washout earlier in the week, residents on the private road tried to fill the sinkhole with gravel. But only a fraction of the gravel remained on Sunday because Saturday's rain washed it out again.

The 13 by 12 foot sink hole was a sight to see and it stopped more than 20 families from doing what they need to do. They were basically stranded.

And as if being basically stranded wasn't enough, Robert Henson lives just on the other side of the sinkhole and his house was flooded with eight inches of rain.

“We rolled towels up, blocked the doors best we could. I went out of the house through a window,” Henson explained.

And now with no way to haul in any help, he's between a rock and a hard place.

“I have people offering to help but, have them come down here and stand on one side of the road and not be able to get across, it does no good,” Henson said.

Roughly 22 families live on Southeast 121st and the sinkhole is putting a strain on all of them.

“I just came down this morning just to see how bad it was,” said homeowner Stan Byers.

Sunday it was deeper than it was the first time water plowed through it earlier in the week. Residents said it's going to need a new culvert and several truckloads of material to fill it back up. And since it's a private road, these residents said it's up to them to find the resources to repair it.

Some people were able to cross when the sinkhole was filled for a brief hour before being washed out again. They parked their vehicles on the other side and are able to leave. But the others will likely be stuck for several days until the road committee can get crews there to fix it.

Residents are able to walk across a portion of the road there, which is critical in the case of an emergency.

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