Wild Video Shows Sinkhole Swallowing Cars in Nebraska, and How the Drivers Got Out of Them
In a stunning new video, onlookers in Nebraska race to assist drivers whose vehicles were sucked into a sinkhole. CCTV footage from Omaha showed two automobiles stopped at a red light as the sinkhole engulfed them out of nowhere.
The wild scene occurred at around 3:30 p.m. local time at Omaha’s 67th and Pacific intersection. Luckily, both of the drivers managed to escape unharmed. Both were able to climb out of their vehicles in the sinkhole by the time the emergency responders and police officers arrived. Other vehicles narrowly avoided the collapsing pavement by a few feet and slowly backed away as it happened.
The footage was recorded by the University of Nebraska-Omaha Public Safety’s security cameras. It shows a maroon Jeep SUV and a silver Dodge Ram pickup slowing to a stop at a red light. Seven seconds later, disaster happened.
Lt. Dan Martin of Omaha Police told WOWT News that the incident took everyone by surprise. Additionally, he cautioned travelers in the area that the sinkhole could widen.
The Omaha Police Department thanked “those who pitched in” to assist. “You took the initiative to assist fellow Omahans,” the OPD wrote.
Tow trucks towed both vehicles out of the sinkholes at around 6 p.m. Crews also shut off water to some homes in the area for several hours while they worked to repair things.
What likely caused the sinkhole to appear?
According to Austin Rowser, Omaha’s city engineer and assistant public works director, an underground pressurized water leak likely caused the sinkhole.
“Ultimately, it comes down to erosion because all pavement, as you know, is not built to stand on its own; it has to have the support from the soil underneath it,” Rowser said.
“It was, like, just a rush, and I didn’t know what to think or do,” one eyewitness, Tyler Daniel, told WOWT News. “We just heard a loud noise and ended up just looking back and seeing two cars in a sinkhole. I was just hoping that everybody was safe and just praying for them in any way I can.”
