A massive sinkhole opened up in Haverhill, Massachusetts, on Friday, forcing people to evacuate their homes — and now the city is under a state of emergency following last week's torrential rainfall.
City officials are trying to see how to move forward with a recovery after all the damage from last week's heavy rain, as crews continue on work to repair the sewer line on Washington and Ford streets.
The city is estimating about a million dollars in damages to the sewer system. The five inches of rain in Haverhill took a toll on roads, businesses and people's basements.
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It is also believed to have led to a 20-by-20-foot sinkhole behind a multi-family home, that prompted the evacuation of its residents, who are now living out of a nearby Hampton Inn.
"It's not nice cause I have two kids and they wanna be home," one woman said.
Marielena Lemus told NBC10 Boston that she heard a big boom, like something exploded -- that explosion was actually the sound of an old brick sewer pipe breaking just feet away from families living at 5 Ford Street, resulting in the opening of the sinkhole that continued to grow larger over the last week -- prompting neighbors to fear for their safety.
"I was like, oh my god, what happened?" Lemus recalled. "We might die in there, the building could collapse."
The mayor declared a state of emergency, hoping to get some relief from the state and federal governments to help residents and businesses affected by the flooding.
The Haverhill collections system supervisor said that crews are installing a bypass from the brick pipe that broke in the sinkhole; they are filling that hole, and after an engineer inspects the scene, residents will know when they can move back in.
"It was a weak spot in the sewer system and the sewer system broke," Haverhill collections system supervisor Paul Jessel said. "It's Mother Nature. She wins."
In order to better assess the damage from last week's rain, the city is asking affected residents and businesses to fill out a form on their website by Thursday, calculating the losses and expenses from the storm, so they can request emergency funds through the state.
"There's a certain threshold we need to make to the state and the federal government in order to get the potential aid," Haverhill spokesman Shawn Regan said.
