Sinkhole opens, damages cars in Point Loma

Residents in the vicinity of the 2700 block of Nimitz Boulevard were awoken by a large boom at around 1:15 am on Sunday, February 17, as a water main exploded and caused a large sinkhole to appear. Mud and water were everywhere when I arrived on the scene.

I talked to John Morales with the City of San Diego, who was helping residents with contact numbers to file a claim with the city for the damage to their cars. He told me a cast-iron main broke because a valve wasn't holding and that main blew the street out, causing the enormous sinkhole. He said it would take a couple of days before the stretch of Nimitz Boulevard between North Harbor Drive and Rosecrans Street would open up again to traffic.

I also spoke with resident Russel Audrade, who was in the process of wringing out articles of clothing soaked with water that had been in his car. He didn't hear the boom; he had come down to his car only a few minutes before I arrived and was taking stock of the damage.

Residents should call the city at 619-236-5598 to file any claims for damage to their vehicles.