Sinkhole swallows Galion family’s Jeep

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No one hurt, North Market Street garage floor six-feet under

GALION — While area residents were fretting Friday about the freezing rain, sleep, snow and plummeting temperatures accompanying Winter Storm Hunter, Beth Sobers and her daughter Kiley were snug and warm and safe inside their North Market Street home.

Until the bottom fell out … of the attached garage in their home.

“It was about 4:30 in the afternoon,” Beth said. “We heard a noise. We thought something had fallen. Then we heard something that sounded our garage door going up.”

I went to the basement and we have an oak table top down there that was not atop the pedestal. It had fallen down,” Beth said. “My parents also have the code to the garage door, so maybe they were visiting. But they never came in, either.”

So Beth and Kiley didn’t think anything else about the strange noises they’d heard.

“I even went back down in the basement and did some laundry,” Beth said.

However, about 6 p.m., Beth needed to go to the garage. When she opened the door to the attached garage she saw the sinkhole.

“The step down to the garage were gone,” she said. “And so was the basement floor. My jeep was about six-feet down, too.”

The garage floor on the home they were renting had collapsed into a sinkhole beneath the garage.

The Jeep fell along with other items stored in the garage, including the steps and a refrigerator, creating one big mess.

Sobers called the fire and police department who arrived shortly.

After cursory inspection of the home, know structural or foundation damage to the home was found.

The garage was a far different story.

“We’re not sure what happened,” she said. “They think maybe a drain beneath the garage door had gotten a leak, and overtime, it just washed away the dirt and gravel. Finally, it got to the point where the floor couldn’t support the Jeep and other things in the garage.”

Sobers called her landlord in Florida, who called her insurance company. She checked on her car insurance and her renter’s insurance and discovered that yes, the damage to her 2017 Jeep and other items in the garage, should be covered.

“Because of the holiday (Monday), I don’t expect any adjuster to come and look at it until Tuesday,” she said. “So right now, I’m car-less. “Everything has to stay just the way it is. I can’t even think about getting my car out and I have no idea what kind of damage it has.”

Despite the inconvenience, Sobers is thankful.

“It could have been much worse,” she said.“Because of the bad weather Friday I left work early. Normally, I’d be getting home just about the time that floor collapsed. I could have been driving into the garage when it gave way. So I’m thankful for that. My parents or my daughter or I could have been in the garage when it happened. So we’re very thankful it’s not any worse that it is.”

 

 

Photo courtesy Beth Sobers
Galion’s Beth Sobers was fortunate she was paying attention on Friday when she opened the door to her attached garage. A sinkhole had apparently opened under the garage floor, causing it to cave in, carrying a jeep, a refrigerator and other items with it.
http://www.galioninquirer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2018/01/web1_IMG_2340.jpgPhoto courtesy Beth Sobers
Galion’s Beth Sobers was fortunate she was paying attention on Friday when she opened the door to her attached garage. A sinkhole had apparently opened under the garage floor, causing it to cave in, carrying a jeep, a refrigerator and other items with it.

 

Photo courtesy Beth Sobers
Beth Sobers opened a door to her garage Friday and discovered the floor had caved in, taking her 2017 Jeep and other items with it. It’s thought that a leaky pipe under the floor washed away gravel and soil until the garage floor and contents became to heavy to support it.
http://www.galioninquirer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2018/01/web1_IMG_2333.jpgPhoto courtesy Beth Sobers
Beth Sobers opened a door to her garage Friday and discovered the floor had caved in, taking her 2017 Jeep and other items with it. It’s thought that a leaky pipe under the floor washed away gravel and soil until the garage floor and contents became to heavy to support it.

 

By Russ Kent

Galion Inquirer

 

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