Car Falls Into Huge Sinkhole On Suburban Essex Street
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A motorist has managed to have a lucky escape amid the chaos of Storm Ciara, having driven their car into a massive sinkhole that had opened up in the middle of a road.
The hole appeared in a suburban neighbourhood in Essex in the early hours of Monday morning.
Pictures from the incident on Hatch Road in Brentwood show a Toyota sitting nose-first in the large hole, with emergency services also seen at the scene.
Residents found the incident very 'unusual', and had come out of their homes to see what had happened.
Local Ollie Watson, 50, came across the dramatic scenes outside of his house at around 2.30am.
He explained that he didn't actually hear the crash, which happened a few doors down from his home, and only went out to investigate after his daughter mentioned something about a disturbance outside.
He said: "I thought it was a road accident at first. We didn't hear it. Our daughter heard a bit of a commotion.
"We then thought that the fire brigade had cut the car in half - but it was actually just sticking out of the hole.
"It's very unusual. My neighbours were out there, and a few people from across the road.
"I imagine that it will sit there for a while. They must be worried about more sinking, I suppose.
"I had to be let through the cordon to go to work this morning."
Storm Ciara may be beginning to clear away after battering the nation over the past few days, the Met Office warned that the weather will remain unsettled, tweeting: "Whilst #StormCiara is clearing away, it will remain unsettled with further strong winds, heavy showers, some snow and ice."
Sunday was an extreme #weather day across the UK due to the passage of #StormCiara. The strongest wind gust recorded at 97mph at Needles Battery on the Isle of Wight.
Here are the rest of the extremes... pic.twitter.com/QIWTPgsr0r
- Met Office (@metoffice) February 10, 2020
At the weekend, the Environment Agency had also issued more than 200 flood warnings as heavy rains batter the UK.
A warning from The Environment Agency reads: "We are issuing the severe flood warning for the River Nidd at Pateley Bridge due to forecast overtopping of flood defences.
"River levels are rising rapidly due to heavy rainfall, associated with Storm Ciara. Heavy showers are expected to continue through Sunday afternoon 09/02/2020.
"The river Nidd is forecast to begin overtopping flood defences in Pateley Bridge at about 12:30 this afternoon. The river level is forecast to peak at 5.1m at 2pm on Sunday.
"This will lead to significant overtopping and may pose a danger to life."
