This month, Chicago, Illinois, has been in the news quite a lot. First, for the alligator discovered at O’Hare Airport, Charlie Trotter‘s death, and now Chicago is in the public eye again due to a sinkhole that has appeared in a local South Side neighborhood.

According to ABC News affiliate WLS in Chicago, the massive sinkhole appeared on Sunday, November 10th, and dissolved a part of the intersection at 124th and Wentworth streets. The local water department opened the sinkhole up, finding its cause to be a water-main break. With this in mind, the news affiliate stated that the local water department shut down water to residents within a two-block radius to help alleviate the break.

The sinkhole (measuring 20×80 feet) was created by an eroding water pipe that serviced a nearby house at the intersection of 124th and Wentworth. Over the course of time that the pipe eroded, a build-up of water collected under the intersection, allowing the asphalt to give way.

Bill Bresnahan, Deputy and Commissioner of the Chicago Water Department, offered the following statement pertaining to the sinkhole and water-main break:

“Depending on what’s underneath it, we’re hoping by the end of the week we should have the street repaired.”

Deloris Alexander, a residents of the house located nearest to the sinkhole stated that, “It’s really scary. The first thing that came to my mind is that everything [in the front yard] would sink right in.” Another nearby resident, Christopher Carter, described his family’s reaction as the sinkhole happened: “They all started screaming and yelling and running.”

According to NBC Chicago, a boil-water advisory (issued Monday) is in effect for the residents located within the vicinity of the sinkhole.

[Image source: NBC Chicago Video]