It’s that time of the year again, folks. Over the weekend, two vehicles were swallowed up by a giant sinkhole caused by a water main break in Olde Richmond. No injuries were reported as a result of the incident.

   The 6-inch main broke around 9:30AM on Sunday in the 2300 block of Boston Street. According to neighbors, the broken main caused water to rush into their basements. Outside, a large section of street collapsed, taking two SUVs parked along the road with it.

   Joe Sergi, 58, lives on street where sinkhole happened. Sergi first noticed there was an issue when he went to brush his teeth Sunday morning and noticed that the water pressure was low.

   Once Sergi realized his basement was flooding and saw activity on the street, he asked his wife to talk to a worker outside to see what happened. When she went to check, two SUVs fell into the hole.

   “The timing could not have been more perfect,” he said. “She went out and saw them fall in… Then one of the [PWD] workers yelled to a truck driver, ‘Pull the truck back!’ because they didn’t want to lose their truck as the road was collapsing.”

   On Monday, a Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) worker told Spirit News it will be a week for the water and gas department to fix infrastructure, after which the Streets Department can start to work street repairs.

   Sergi said he doesn’t currently have any heat or water, only electricity. He was told by officials that he should have it back around Thursday.

   Damaris Figueroa, 31, lives on 2400 block of Tulip, just around corner from hole. She found out about the sinkhole upon returning home with her fiance Sunday.

   “A few neighbors said, ‘wait till you see what’s around the corner,’” Figueroa said.

   She says that the sinkhole will mainly impact her ability to find parking around her house. She says that many people on her block use Boston Street for parking. “Sinkholes can happen, but you don’t know when it can happen around the corner from you.”

  These large sinkholes are nothing new in Olde Richmond. Last year, a giant sinkhole appeared at the corner of Huntington and Tulip, only a few blocks away from the new hole. Sergi believes that new buildings may have caused problem for nearby residents.

   “A lot of people have been expressing concerns that the infrastructure can’t handle the new buildings in the area… our street has no issues, there was no sign of anything going on… it’s scary because it could happen on any block.” •