Widening sinkhole poses threat to Cobb apartment residents

by:Craig Lucie Updated: Jul 22, 2013 - 8:15 PM

COBB COUNTY - A sinkhole under the Ivy Ridge Apartments in Cobb County is still growing this week and residents said they may never be able to live in their apartments again.

Restoration crews are concerned that more rain forecasted for this week will make the hole under the Bentley Road building bigger.

"It's pretty wild," said Robin Smith, who evacuated her apartment. "Out of everything, a sinkhole. I would have never imagined this," Smith said.

The ground under her apartment kept falling in and she could hear people yelling outside, she told Channel 2's Craig Lucie.

Her mother, Sherry Smith Faye, says she will never forget the sound of the floor giving way.

"It sounded like an earthquake," said Sherry Smith Faye. "It felt like an earthquake."

Restoration crews said heavy weekend rains washed away most of the concrete foundation.

"All we could do was leave," said Smith Faye. "I couldn't get my birth certificate. I just left out with everything I had on my back."

Residents don't know when, or if they will be able to return for their valuables.

"We have no way of replacing these things and I'm hoping we can get back in there because we need clothing and other items that are in there," said Smith Faye.

"These are expensive items," she said.

Apartment management said a team of engineers is working on the building, but they don't know if Robin Smith, her mother and their neighbors in eight other apartments will be able to return.

"We are just waiting patiently to get some answers," said Smith Faye.

The Red Cross is financing food and motel rooms for 25 for the next three days, but residents are worried about where they will go when that time ends.