Vehicle engulfed in massive hole caused by water main break in Citrus
BEVERLY HILLS (FOX 13) - Call it the most manic of Mondays. Matt Jacques was just starting his drive to work when he suddenly found himself sinking.
"I felt the car start leaning forward and some water started coming up through the floorboard and through the side of the door and I was like, oh my god this is really happening right now," said Jacques.
Neighbors say they didn't think much of the small amount of sand and water on Truman Boulevard as cars and trucks drove through Monday morning, until they saw Jacques' car pitch forward into the murky water.
"It grabbed one side of his car and then slowly pulled him in," said Ivy Gillespie. "There was no turning back from that. It was crazy."
With water pouring into his car and unable to reverse, Jacques says he had to react quickly.
"I just jumped out and was glad I landed on some land," said Jacques.
Jacques watched in disbelief as his car sank into the flooded roadway. Within minutes his car had almost completely disappeared into the muddy water. Only the tail light remained to be seen.
Citrus County says an underground water main break is to blame. After pulling the white 2-door Hyundai out of the 15-foot hole, crews went to work replacing the water main and patching the road back together. By Monday evening, the hole was completely filled back in and Truman Blvd. had been reopened to traffic.
"Stuff like that happens to other people and it's like, how'd they get in that hole like that? What were they thinking? And then here I am," said Jacques.
He's laughing about it now, but Jacques and his neighbors know it could've have been a lot more serious.
"It could've been a lot worse if I had my daughter with me or if it was somebody else who couldn't move around so good or had kids in the back," said Jacques.
"The school bus was about to come through so I'm just glad it didn't affect the kids or anything that could've caused major damage or harmed anybody," said Ivy Gillespie, who was waiting for her son's school bus to arrive when she watched the scene unfold from her front porch.
Citrus County officials say this was only a water main break, and not a sink hole.