Sinkhole Under House Possible in Pembroke, New York

What a scary situation.

Over the weekend, one family had to leave their home in Pembroke due to the house being on top of a possible sinkhole.

An assistant chief with the Crittenden Volunteer Fire Department says the house could collapse by Monday morning", accordingWGRZ.

 

The owner of a house on Scribner Road noticed some pretty big cracks in the driveway. Then the cracks made their way to the foundation. After the cracks got worse, the fire department was called in.

Unfortunately, the foundation is getting worse, cracking further and further. Genesee County emergency management thinks it’s going to be on the ground by morning,” said  the Assistant Chief .

As of right now, the house has not collapsed or sunk. The fire department helped the owner remove all of the valuables in the house and now is staying with family in the meantime.

We are hearing of more and more sinkholes in Western New York. Even if the sinkholes are not that big they are still concerning. What is a sinkhole? How do they form? According to the United States Geological Survey:

Sinkholes are common where the rock below the land surface is limestone, carbonate rock, salt beds, or rocks that can naturally be dissolved by groundwater circulating through them. As the rock dissolves, spaces and caverns develop underground. Sinkholes are dramatic because the land usually stays intact for a while until the underground spaces just get too big. If there is not enough support for the land above the spaces, then a sudden collapse of the land surface can occur. These collapses can be small, or, as this picture shows, or they can be huge and can occur where a house or road is on top.

The most common states for sinkholes are Florida and Texas.