GLEN LYON, Pa. — "Where I used to live on Schooley Avenue, there used to be two openings for a mine. And every day, we were afraid we were going to wake up and find ourselves in a hole," said evacuated resident Myrtle Miller.
Miller is still living with that same fear years later. She was evacuated from her home after a sinkhole opened behind the Rock Street apartments in the Glen Lyon section of Newport Township.
"My son heard a loud bang. Okay, and he came outside, and he's looking, and everyone's looking and running away. And he's like 'the hole collapsed again," she recalled Sunday's events before the evacuation.
Miller was one of the 20 people forced from their homes near Nanticoke as the sinkhole continued to grow right in their backyards. She says this isn't the first time Rock Street residents have had this problem.
"About a year ago, they were filling it in back there because it was collapsing. And they put dirt in it, they put rock in it," she explained.
Monday, crews are out here doing the very same thing, using rocks and dirt, trying to fill the massive hole. Crews on scene believe the hole could now be about 100 feet deep. The executive director of the housing authority, Barry Yohey, says the recent wet weather isn't helping the situation.
"I would say the rain, maybe, a little bit. But it was time to give, I guess," said Yohey.
This sinkhole's been a persistent problem. Officials say a sinkhole originally opened up in the same exact area back in 1981. Residents say it's a byproduct of the coal region.
"The whole area is full of mines; coal is what made Pennsylvania," said Miller.
With the rocks now moving into place throughout Monday, the housing authority hopes to let residents like Miller, who were evacuated as a precaution, back into their homes as soon as possible. As for those whose homes meet the edge of the sinkhole, they aren't as lucky. Officials say they can't estimate a timeline of how long those residents will be out of their homes. Yohey says he is unsure if the building closest to the sinkhole has any structural issues due to the subscience.
"We have no idea. It could be weeks, it could be months. As long as it takes to fill the hole in," added Yohey.
The housing authority says one of the buildings is without water, as a waterline was lost in this subsidence.
Officials are hoping to get a temporary waterline up and running on Tuesday, to get those residents back in their homes as well.
Those who are still evacuated are either staying with family or placed in a hotel until they can safely return home.
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