"I just saw water flooding in": Woman describes how her car ended up in Brooklyn Park sinkhole
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. -- An intersection in Brooklyn Park will be closed for the next day or two due to a large sinkhole.
Officials say the sinkhole at 79th Avenue, Shingle Creek Drive, and Douglas Drive formed because of a broken water main pipe. Water service has been shut off to some nearby homes because of the break.
Josie Russell says she was driving to get groceries when, just blocks from her home, she tried to dodge what she thought was a puddle.
"I just kinda dropped into the puddle," she described. "So as it dropped into the puddle, I just saw water flooding in from the bottom and I got really scared."
"Water started coming in so I knew from like that instant, I have to get out 'cause I knew I was gonna sink in. 'Cause I felt it sinking," she added.
Russell tried to open her front door, but couldn't. So she moved to the back as neighbors watched and one helped. Russell said as she opened the back door, a man threw his hand out and he pulled her out.
"As soon as I got out, I came on the grass and I just watched my car kinda swallow away," she said.
"It finally went all the way in," Pat Dombrowski, a witness, described. "It almost reminded me of the Titanic when I watched it."
It took roughly 15 minutes for her car to be submerged. Russell wasn't injured, and says she's glad do be OK.
The intersection will be closed until the water main break is repaired. Officials say it will be closed for 24-48 hours.