Worried neighbours seek answers as sinkhole swallows Nova Scotia home

FALMOUTH, N.S. — People living near a Nova Scotia home being swallowed by a large sinkhole say they are feeling jittery as they await answers on why the ground opened up — and whether other houses might be at risk.

Debby Rose said about 40 people gathered at her home in Falmouth on Wednesday evening to share information about the dramatic incident Sunday that saw her neighbour’s large brick home sink into the ground.

“The consensus was the same all around the room — it’s just the fear of the unknown for all of us and how it will affect us going forward,” she said Thursday.

“There were a lot of people who had questions and concerns who were trying to get answers on their own and were getting nowhere. We are all in this together.”

Rose, who lives right beside the sinking house, said a municipal official who attended the informal meeting assured the residents that they will be given the results of a report being done on the site by a geotechnical engineer.

Rose said there has been a lot of speculation as to what caused the home to plunge into the hole, leaving residents uneasy as to whether their properties could be vulnerable as well.

“It could be a man-made cause by lack of proper drainage, or roof water going below slab, or it may have to do with the way it was constructed,” she said. “There’s all kinds of things it could have been and really none of us know for sure.”

Municipal authorities in the district of West Hants have said they were assured the sinkhole was an isolated natural event limited to the one property.

But, Rose said people also want to know if the relatively new residential area was known to be prone to sinkholes and, if so, why it was approved for development.

Early Sunday, Heather Strickey said she awoke to a loud clamour and found the first floor of the house had virtually collapsed into a gaping hole, estimated to be up to nine metres deep.

She said Thursday that she expects to meet with municipal officials and her insurance company in the coming days to find out whether the loss is covered and what will happen to the two-storey house, roughly 70 kilometres outside Halifax.

She and her husband, along with her son and a friend visiting from Mexico, have moved into a temporary home and plan to relocate to a friend’s winterized cottage this weekend.

“The only frustration is that … this happened Sunday and you have to wait until Tuesday and then be told you have to wait a little bit longer,” she said. “You’re just hoping the right thing is going to happen.”

Everyone got out of the house safely, but officials have said it will have to be demolished. Crews secured the site and disconnected the home’s utilities. As additional sink holes opened up on the property, the brick face of the house cracked and sagged into the ground.

Rose, who runs a real estate company, said she was trying to sell her house but has taken it off the market because of “the stigma that’s now attached to the area.”

The Canadian Press