Sinkhole takes Clark County driver by surprise
LA CENTER, Wash. - A sinkhole took out part of a road in La Center early Saturday morning and an unsuspecting driver ended up crashing right into it.
Northeast Charity Road is now closed at the 31000 block and detour signs are in place to keep folks safe. The detour is about three miles around the closure.
According to the Clark County Sheriff's Office, deputies and rescuers were called to the location overnight on a report that a vehicle had driven into a sinkhole.
When they arrived, they discovered that a vehicle did, indeed, crash into the sinkhole. The driver, a 47-year-old man from La Center, was able to get himself out of the vehicle. He suffered non-life threatening injuries.
Officials investigating what happened determined that the roadway collapsed due to a plugged culvert that resulted in erosion.
Water and phone service was also knocked out in the immediate area.
Photo courtesy of the Clark County Sheriff's Office.
Glad the driver is safe, that's the most important part of this story.
Culverts under roadways cause many a sinking pavement. Rarely anything like this though. City or county needs better procedures to keep tabs on them so things don't get this far again.
@Chico Great idea, but would guess it would take more tax dollars and most of the population would not vote for a tax increase to inspect culverts. I'm sure there are tons to inspect and there just isn't enough manpower. Maybe people living near culverts could check them once in awhile, but doubt the city would do anything to correct the problem even if blockage were reported.
Â
Can you even begin to imagine what it would be like to be driving along and suddenly the bottom drops out and you smash into a dirt and asphalt wall. I am so glad the driver is OK, but yes that would be enough to give someone a heart attack. Â
What a rush!
That is a tough one to walk away from. He should sue the county for a new pair of underwear along with the fix to his car.
@LongBeachBum It's your mentality of sue, sue, sue........which causes lots of problems. Greed and get rich quick schemes to sue are dumb! JMO.
@mustang sally This is a totally valid case for the county being at fault. While maybe not sue, they should at least work with him and pony up for a compariable replacement vehicle.
He's lucky he didn't have a heart attack. I probably would have.