PHOTOS: Huge sinkhole on South Side
The sinkhole swallowed up part of the street at 124th Street and Wentworth. The city's water department says it opened up Sunday night as a result of a water-main break and became progressively larger. The water department had to turn off the water to a two-block radius temporarily as crews worked to repair it.
Not only had the water been turned off, but a handful of basements were flooded -- some with as much as two feet of water -- as a result of the break.
Crews were also working to remove a tree that was caught inside the 14-foot sinkhole. Crews will have to make it larger in order to get to the water main.
The hole, measuring 20 by 80 feet, appears to have started when a pipe servicing the house with a small leak inside eroded over time and washed out the drain and support from under the road. On Sunday night, it gave way.
"Depending on what's underneath it, we're hoping by the end of the week we should have the street repaired," said Dep. Comm. Bill Bresnahan, Chicago Water Department. "We will have water on to these people before we leave here, hopefully by the end of the day."
