HAVERHILL,Mass — Haverhill city leaders me on Monday to discuss cleanup efforts after massive storms last week caused flooding and a massive sinkhole.
The sinkhole forced 22 people out of their homes and Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini to declare a state of emergency.
City leaders say they hope to receive financial aid from the state and federal governments for the damage that could force residents out of their homes for weeks.
“I was worried because I don’t want to get out of my house,” said Segunda Alvarado, who lives next to the sinkhole.
Alvarado says luckily she was able to stay in her house even though she lives right on the edge of the sinkhole, but more than 20 of her neighbors who live in a multi-family home on Ford Street were forced to evacuate Friday.
“When the rain calmed down, I come out and saw the hole, it started not too big but later, they say 20 feet or something, that’s deep,” said Alvarado.
Crews are working around the clock to fix the issue.
“Seven o’clock in the morning it wakes us up, it’s horrible,” said Yajaira More, who lives nearby.
The construction is loud for people who live nearby and inconvenient for some families.
“I mean this construction, they said hopefully 4 weeks, so hopefully it does, my daughter likes to play in the backyard and obviously we can’t be back there so,” said More.
City leaders say this could take weeks and at least one million dollars to repair the pipe alone.
Meanwhile, some neighbors have been dealing with flooding in their basements from all this work.
“A lot of stuff were damaged, but I mean hopefully tomorrow I can get everything resolved,” said More.
Those residents who were evacuated are staying in a hotel for now.
To request funding from the city for your home or business which was damaged, visit the link here.
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