Local media reported that a massive sinkhole opened up in an IHOP parking lot in Meridian, Mississippi on Saturday night, swallowing at least a dozen cars. There have been no reports of injuries.
According to the International Business Times, witnesses reported that they heard a large “boom” and then the restaurant experienced a power outage. The asphalt of the parking lot then gave away, creating a huge hole about 35-feet wide, 375-feet long, and 30-feet deep. USA Today reports that about 15 vehicles were submerged.
Meridian Public Safety Director Buck Roberts told USA Today that the collapse was not technically a sinkhole. He believes that it was more likely a collapsed drain.
“You can call it what you want, a cave-in or whatever, but it is not a sinkhole,” Roberts said.
However, there is still an ongoing investigation as to what caused the hole.
“We won’t know exactly what happened until engineers can determine the cause,” Roberts said.
The Washington Post reports that the IHOP had just opened earlier that week and that the area had been drenched by 10 inches of rain over the past two weeks.
