MAHANOY CITY, Pa. — A family is working to salvage what they can from their backyard near Mahanoy City.
What would usually be a picturesque snowy morning was interrupted by a massive subsidence that opened up just feet away from their home.
The homeowners told Newswatch 16 they woke up to a loud noise they thought was thunder or a tree falling.
However, when they looked out the window, they saw a massive hole in their backyard.
The subsidence is so wide that it completely swallowed up their 44-foot swimming pool, and it’s so deep that not a trace of the fiberglass pool can be seen.
“It’s devastating, " said homeowner Tracy Quick to Newswatch 16 back in 2016.
Quick spoke when she was dealing with the exact same situation. Eight years ago, a 40-foot mine subsidence opened up directly behind her home that November. The hole occurred just feet away from where this current subsidence caved in.
It took massive machinery to install 120-foot- beams to support the house from falling into the subsidence.
The family tells Newswatch 16 that the Department of Environmental Protection even stabilized the land with 350 truckloads of cement after the last hole opened up.
Crews who worked to save the home eight years ago had this to say about the subsidence that occurred just before Thanksgiving: “This is absolutely one of the worst.”
Now, it’s déjà vu for this family. Eight years later, just before Christmas, the family is working to save what they can from their nearby shed, and they’re waiting to see what happens next with their home, once again, in Mahanoy Township.