Sinkhole Threatens Four Homes

TEMPLE HILLS, Md. (WUSA) -- All the rain has opened a huge sinkhole in Prince George's County.

And the sinkhole now threatens to swallow four homes on Yorkville Road in Temple Hills.

One man had to abandon his car in his carport, and now his sunroom is slowly collapsing on top of it.

Dan Walsh woke to the sound of emergency workers pounding on his front door. "Soon as he opened the door," says Walsh, "I could see what happened. He said get out, we're going to cut the power off!"

The ground had collapsed out their back doors ina jagged fissure running 200 yards behind four different homes. In places, it's 40 feet wide and more than six feet deep.

"Very nervous, confused, overwhelmed," says Walsh.

Emergency workers suspect when the homes were built more that 50 years ago, the construction crews may have buried a small stream. All the rain may have finally blown it out.

"Everything drains to this side," says Walsh, "and the water found its way in there."

Officials say they're unsure how much farther the earth will sink. "Always fearful," says county Environmental Resources Director Charlie Wilson. "Mother nature is a powerful force."

Officials have allowed two residents back into their homes. But they've told the people in two other homes they'll have to find someplace else to live, at least for now.

"So far, we've got all my late grandmother's jewelry, the antiques, the contents of the fire safe, all the important documents," says Douglas Pfaff, nephew of one of the residents.

Prince George's County has called in consultants to try and figure out what to do next. The consultants will have to determine if they can stabilize the earth and save the houses.