A Washington couple was in for horror when their car plunged into a sinkhole in a Vancouver intersection while returning home last week. Authorities responded to the scene around 1:15 am on Saturday, January 20, after reports that a vehicle had fallen into a sinkhole.
Katlynn Bicknell and her boyfriend Kevin were going back home after grabbing food when the incident took place. Bickness tried to open the car’s door, pushing against the rushing water in the massive hole.
“It felt like the movies, like being in a movie,” Bicknell told KPTV. “We turned right on to Washington, and soon as we turned, it went straight into the hole. It felt like being on a roller coaster when you go down the big dip, and the car just started to fill with water.” The couple manage to exit through the trunk and side door.
Bickness promptly called the police. However, until the police arrived, they saw the car fall deeper into the sinkhole. According to authorities, a water main break caused the sinkhole. Vancouver Police USA posted on X, “Huge shout-out to the first responders who arrived at the scene and the public works crew who quickly worked to repair the water main break!”
{{/usCountry}}Bickness promptly called the police. However, until the police arrived, they saw the car fall deeper into the sinkhole. According to authorities, a water main break caused the sinkhole. Vancouver Police USA posted on X, “Huge shout-out to the first responders who arrived at the scene and the public works crew who quickly worked to repair the water main break!”
{{/usCountry}}A sinkhole is adepression in the groundwith nonatural external surface drainage. When it rains, all the water remains inside the sinkhole. It generally drains into the subsurface.
According to the United States Geological Survey’s website, “Sinkholes are most common in what geologists call, “karst terrain.” These are regions where the types of rock below the land surface can naturally be dissolved by groundwater circulating through them. Soluble rocks include salt beds and domes, gypsum, limestone and other carbonate rock. Florida, for instance, is an area largely underlain by limestone and is highly susceptible to sinkholes.”
“When water from rainfall moves down through the soil, these types of rock begin to dissolve. This creates underground spaces and caverns,” it adds.