Haverhill residents return to their homes on Ford Street after sinkhole forced evacuation
HAVERHILL - Twenty-two people, including several children, were able to return home after a massive sinkhole forced evacuations in Haverhill last week.
Crews with an excavator were seen examining the new pipe that was installed Wednesday, replacing the one that gave way due to the torrential rain. It was a sigh of relief for one Haverhill family as they returned home for the first time since Friday.
"There was a big boom, it was like an explosion," Marilena Lemus explained.
Her family had a front row view to the massive sinkhole that opened up.
"I've been a little concerned, like, oh my God, am I going to come back to my house?" Lemus's daughter, Amelia Brea, told WBZ-TV. "Is my house going to go down with all the important stuff in there?"
The apartment building along Ford Street is safe, according to the Haverhill mayor's office. Crews filled the sinkhole and worked to ensure the new pipe is working properly. The Haverhill family still remembers the panic that set in on Friday.
"My mom was like 'We got to go! They told us that we got to go,'" Brea explained.
"I still feel nervous," Lemus said. "Because after you see that, you're like, oh my God, is it going to happen again?"
Those nerves slowly turned to gratitude now that they see that their home is still intact.
"I was like oh my God, are we going to be able to move back in? Thank God we did," said Lemus.
