A sinkhole appeared in the Bronx on Monday as rain and strong winds lashed New York City, building throughout the evening and engulfing a parked van.
At about 58 feet long, 15 feet wide, and 20 feet deep, the hole had room for a lot more. It opened in the Morris Park neighborhood at Radcliff Avenue and Pierce Avenue around 4:15 p.m., according to the fire department. No injuries were reported.
The sinkhole damaged a water main, cutting off service to 70 homes; all but 20 had recovered by Tuesday morning. Water was supplied to residents from two city-owned Water on the Go fountains in the area.
“The investigation into the root cause of the road collapse is ongoing,” said Edward Timbers, a spokesman for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection. “The weather could definitely have played a role.”
The city was hit by heavy downpours on Monday, causing flight delays and grounded planes at all three major airports in the region and affecting metro areas in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx.
Neighborhoods in Manhattan recorded between one and two inches of rain Monday, while Fordham, in the Bronx, recorded about 3.35 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service.
Monday’s storms preceded a week of hot temperatures forecast for the city and other parts of the northeast. The weather service issued a heat advisory Tuesday morning for southeastern New York, southern Connecticut and New Jersey, with heat index values expected to reach around 100 degrees Wednesday and Thursday.
Sinkholes are relatively rare in New York City, but the increased frequency of rain storms in recent years could put the city’s infrastructure to the test. After two sinkholes opened up in one week in Manhattan last summer, the city’s environmental commissioner said the number of sinkholes reported each year in the city has actually decreased, in part because the city has invested heavily in strengthening its underground infrastructure. .
On Tuesday, Mr. Timbers confirmed that trend. “Lane collapses are not more common,” he said.
For now, the hole in the Bronx is being filled to stabilize the road while investigations into the cause continue, Mr. Timbers said. The street is closed to traffic and repairs could take several weeks, he added.
As for the van, it was pulled from the hole Tuesday morning and appeared to have survived the fall.
“The owner got inside, started it right up and drove off,” Mr Timbers said.
Ana Ley contributed to this report.
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