Woman shares tale of driving into sinkhole from broken water main INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Crews from Citizens Energy Group were making repairs Tuesday after a broken water main caused a sinkhole to open up on Emerson Avenue during the morning commute. “A water main break occurred near the intersection of 10th Street and Emerson Avenue at about 6:30 a.m., resulting in a cave-in of about 4-by-6 feet,” Citizens Energy Group said in a statement to News 8. Jennifer Stowers told News 8 about how her car got stuck in the sinkhole. “I didn’t see it, it was dark out and water was rushing on the road,” Stowers said. She tried to maneuver to the shallowest part of the water to avoid it, but her car fell in. Crews came to help, Stowers said, and she had to climb out through the passenger side and into the icy water. A Citizens Energy Group crew member opened the door from the outside because the car was too angled to open from the inside. “My tennis shoes were definitely not equipped for the water. My feet were soaked,” she said. A tow truck soon after pulled the car free. “The whole front driver’s side was crushed. Water was rushing out. It even took a chunk of the road with it,” Stowers said. She’d just dropped her daughter off at day care. “I would have panicked because it would have been like ‘How am I going to get her out of the car and myself?'” Stowers said. There were no cones out at the time Sowers’ car went into the hole. “I told them, ‘Oh, I didn’t see that.’ They were like, ‘Yeah, we’re getting ready to put down the cones.’ I was like ‘Uhm, OK. … That doesn’t help me now,'” Stowers said. “A little disappointed. I think the cones could have been set out a little faster. I mean if you know there is a sinkhole or a hole period it should have been done.” Stowers said because a water main break caused the sinkhole Citizens Energy Group would cover the damages to Stowers’ car. The utility has already paid for the tow truck and a rental car. “There is a lot of damage on the driver’s-side front where the fender is and where the bumper is all the way up to the headlight,” Stowers said. “From what the tow truck driver said, there was water. When they pulled it out water was gushing out of my car.” A Citizens insurance adjuster will inspect her car in the coming days, and she will learn about the next steps from there. Crews stopped the flow of water and isolated the main break, closing valves on either side, to complete the repair. As a result, water service may have been temporarily off to nearby homes and businesses. Citizens said repairs to the water main were expected to be completed Tuesday afternoon. Crews will then have to restore the damaged part of Emerson Avenue. A lane restriction was in place along northbound Emerson Avenue. Drivers should use caution in the area and, if possible, choose an alternate route. WISH-TV viewer Amber Loy sent in a video from the scene at 10th Street and Emerson Avenue.