Residents in a South Laguna awoke on Tuesday, Feb. 6, to find mud flowing from a break in a rain-soaked road adjacent to a similar sinkhole that in March swallowed a Range Rover and closed the street for at least seven months for repair.
The break under a retaining wall along Sunset Avenue occurred during the early morning hours, leading a resident on Virginia Way about 100 yards below to call the city at 3 a.m.
“I started seeing mud in my backyard and got up and started checking all the drains to make sure nothing was clogged,” said Marie Clark.
The scenario was a frightening reminder of a similar problem in March when her backyard was filled with mud, rocks and debris when a sinkhole broke loose, tossing a Range Rover into a 10-foot hole.
Crews were able to pull the car out, but neighbors below the location had significant damage and dealt with ongoing repairs down for months by the South Coast Water District. The sinkhole was finally repaired late in 2023.
Clark and neighbor Caroline Hamner walked to the location on Sunset and saw the “undermined street” right next to the original sinkhole.
“Our eyes popped out of our head when we saw it,” Clark said, adding that residents now worry about what impact the weight of mud could have on water and gas lines beneath the ground there.
“Part of the hillside had washed down,” Hamner said. “A lot of foilage has helped the slope, but we worry what happens if it gets worse.”
City and water district crews are on site. Sandbags have also been placed near the start and end of the debris field and water has been shut off to some of the homes.
Brendan Manning, the city’s emergency operations coordinator, said the road has been closed due to stability concerns.
Mike Thompkins, a general contractor who spent months watching this sinkhole in front of his house being repaired, worries that the problem is related to the 100-year-old roadway.
He described last year’s incident as a “hydro blast…
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