A family in Nassau County says they’re getting the runaround from the city and their insurance company after a 5-foot deep sinkhole appeared in their driveway following a period of heavy rain. NBC New York’s Ida Siegal reports.
A family in Nassau County says they're getting the runaround from the city and their insurance company after an 8-foot deep sinkhole appeared in their driveway following a period of heavy rain.
When David Moultrie came home from work on Saturday, he says he couldn't believe what he saw in his Elmont driveway: a gaping hole right in his front lawn.
He thought it looked like an earthquake had occurred and Moutrie's wife, Rhonda Brooks, says she was so concerned the huge sinkhole would collapse further and she couldn't sleep.
"I didn't want any of the neighborhood kids to call in so I started roping it off myself and got caution tape," Moultrie said.
He called 911 and police came, but because the sinkhole is on his property, he says officers told him that it was up to his insurance company to deal with it.
"Saturday I called them, they said somebody would get back to me by Monday. Monday I called, nobody's gotten back to me. I explained to them the severity of the thing. I didn't want anybody to fall in it. They said, 'by the end of the day.' Nobody had gotten back to me," Moultrie said.
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Deep inside the hole, there appears to be a wall that looks like a well. The homeowners don't know what's down the hole because they don't use well water there, but they're worried it's something that could cause more of their property to potentially collapse.
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"Knowing I had just walked there and I know my daughter had backed her car, I was glad everything was OK," Brooks said.
Moultrie looked to other places for help and called around town, but he says he kept getting told to call his insurance company.
"My frustration is over the top with this insurance company. I mean, you take my money year after year after year. This is my first time having a claim," Moultrie added.
NBC New York has reached out to the company for comment but has not received a response before this story's publication.
Meanwhile, Moultrie and Brooks are trying to keep people away from their house to make sure no one gets hurt.
