PARKVILLE, Md. — When they heard the sound of rushing water, people who live on this part of Joppa Road knew it couldn't just be the rain. It was too powerful.
"Once we heard sirens and whatnot, that's when we came out and we were like, 'wow,'" Brittany Daddario recalled.
"When we looked out front of our property, we saw a very huge amount of water coming up out of the ground. And we knew we got another water main bust," Mike Straub told WMAR-2 News.
That was around 2:00 a.m. When the water finally cleared, a large sinkhole was left behind on Joppa Rd., near the intersection with Walther Blvd. in Parkville.
"I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe how big the hole was. It was crazy," Daddario said. The sinkhole is directly in front of her house.
This is not the first time this street has had a problem like this.
"It's only been about a year and a few weeks," Straub said.
WMAR-2 News was there in January of last year after a water main break in almost the same section of Joppa Road. That led to a sinkhole in Straub's backyard, which still hasn't been fixed.
His message to the Baltimore City Department of Public Works, which is responsible for water service in Baltimore County: "Help. We need you to do something, now."
Baltimore City DPW told WMAR-2 News on Thursday afternoon:
The Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) is actively responding to a 12-inch water main break at 3514 E. Joppa Road in Baltimore County. The break has caused street undermining, requiring the closure of the roadway for safety.
Crews are on-site conducting repairs, which are expected to be extensive and continue through the evening. Water main repairs involve multiple steps, including shutting down the main, excavating the damaged section, replacing the pipe, and restoring water service. Roadway restoration will occur after repairs are complete.
At this time, 30 customers have been affected, and impacted residents have been notified. DPW will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available. We appreciate the community’s patience as our crews work to complete this repair safely and efficiently.
"They told me they're tearing it all up today; it's gonna be days. We have no water, no running water, can't flush the toilets, nothing like that," Daddario told WMAR-2 News earlier that day.
Even after the sinkhole is fixed, neighbors hope for a long-term solution, so that nothing like this ever happens again.
In an update on his Facebook page, Baltimore County Councilman David Marks told his constituents: "The sinkhole is 100 feet west of where the new water line was installed in 2019. There have been no problems on the new line since 2019; it is the older part where the breaks have occurred."
