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On Highway 101 near Newport, Oregon, recent rainfall may have caused a sinkhole to develop, putting drivers and local residents at risk.

The Oregon State Police are advising drivers to be cautious when approaching milepost 144. There will also be delays on Highway 101 as crews work to repair the sinkhole, forcing the road down to one lane of traffic. Oregon Department of Transportation crews have been monitoring the erosion around the potential sinkhole and are developing a detour for motorists to take around the hazard, Portland news source KGW reported.

Due to the heavy rainfall common to Portland and other parts of Oregon, ODOT issued guidelines to help drivers and residents avoid slides, flood and other water-related problems. Residents should make sure their cars are prepared for inclement weather, including carrying a spare tire, keeping windshield wipers in good condition and having a fully charged battery.

In addition, vehicles should be stocked with various survival tools if drivers have to pull over, such as rechargeable flashlight, cellphone, flares and extra warm clothes. Drivers are cautioned to drive slowly because heavy rains create slick surfaces and can cause obstacles in the road such as large debris or sinkholes.

Three residents in Fork Township, Pennsylvania, recently received notices to repair a sinkhole that opened up in the Sycamore Hills development where they live. One of the residents has already complained to zoning officer Tim Weis that he should not have to pay for the repairs.

“I guess we’ll wait to hear from all three,” Weis told the Palmer-Fork Patch, “and set a meeting and discuss how to rectify this.”

The township's sinkhole ordinance says that homeowners with a sinkhole on their property caused from leaking pipes, heavy rain or other water damage have 10 days to fix it. The sinkhole was first discovered in November, and has since doubled in size. Property owners are also responsible for erecting barricades around the sinkhole until it is fixed to prevent any residents from falling in or getting hurt, the source reported.

Similarly, a sinkhole was recently discovered in Huntington, West Virginia, that formed around a manhole on Eighth Street. The road will have to be closed while Sanitary Board crews can make repairs, the Herald-Dispatch reported.

Mark Deem, engineering field supervisor for the Sanitary Board, told the source that crews are currently trying to determine what caused the sinkhole. Deem guesses heavy rainfall reported earlier in the week might have contributed to the creation of the sinkhole, but it could also be a leaky pipe situation.

A Bloomington District 87 school bus in central Illinois recently got stuck in a 4-foot-deep sinkhole when the street collapsed under the weight of the bus on West Oakland Avenue. No passengers were injured, but crews were called to help remove the bus before the sinkhole expanded.

The Pantagraph reported the bus had 12 Irving Elementary School students on board as students were returning home from school. A portion of Oakland Avenue had already been closed to traffic so crews could fix two different sinkholes caused by a water main break. When the bus ran over the saturated pavement, the road caved in and created a sinkhole 8 feet long. At the scene, witnesses could hear the water rushing below the submerged bus tire.

When the bus hit the sinkhole, the students panicked and the bus driver calmed them down and transferred them to another bus. The school bus sank up to its frame on the driver's side when the rear wheel plunged through the pavement, the source reported.

According to WJBC radio, the bus was either stopped or moving very slowly when it hit the sinkhole. If the bus had been moving faster it could have created a larger hole. Bloomington City Manager David Hales said water crews are working on finding the exact cause of the sinkhole in hopes to implement preventative measures in the future.

Deputy City Manager Barb Adkins told the source that a recent water main break nearby created other sinkholes, and a cracked piece of a 4-foot pipe from an underground water main was found by crews at the site. Adkins said Bloomington's water system is old, and leaks and bursts are becoming more common.