Massive sinkhole prompts concerns of a mudslide for DeKalb County homeowners bracing for heavy rain

Massive sinkhole prompts concerns of a mudslide for DeKalb County homeowners

Residents Brandi and Bob Graham said they were told by county officials that they were still assessing liability and weren’t aware the project at their home on Midvale Lane had started.

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - Homeowners in one Tucker neighborhood said they went from feeling relieved to confused when contractors working on a massive sinkhole in their backyard said they were served a cease-and-desist order by DeKalb County.

Residents Brandi and Bob Graham said they were told by county officials that they were still assessing liability and weren’t aware the project at their home on Midvale Lane had started.

Graham told FOX 5 the ground around her home of 16 years is shifting more and more by the day and with heavy rain expected later this week, the secondary problem of their home’s foundation is top of mind.

"We’ve had lots of movement with the concrete and the foundation down there…I mean it continues to separate…it’s very different just since the last time you were here," Graham said in an interview on Wednesday.

She said tree and shrubbery removal that was underway at her home was stopped after she asked DeKalb County leaders to provide a civil engineer to assess the foundation.

"A&S Paving, who was the company that was contracted by DeKalb County, that company told my husband that there was a cease-and-desist order and that they were to leave the property."

A spokesperson from DeKalb County said that order came after an email from Graham where she said she was advised not to allow any digging until a civil engineer was present.  She said the advice came from contractors she’d reached out to for a second opinion.

"I’ve spoken with a couple of different structural engineers on the phone, and they said 'DeKalb County... if they’re out there, they’re on your property, and they’re working with this pipe that’s theirs, they have structural engineers...'" she explained.

In an email response to Graham sharing concerns about her family’s safety, a public works official told her the quickest option for her was to hire the contractors she contacted, and they’d "endeavor to draft an agreement for appropriate reimbursement".

"Well, I don’t feel comfortable with that considering it took eight months for them to even come on my property," Graham said in response.

With heavy rain in the forecast over the next few days, she said she and her husband are worried about the possibility of a mudslide.

"There’s nothing sort of holding all this soil in place," she stated.

When Graham said she asked if the county would provide a safe place for her family to stay, she was told they’d get back with her. So far, she hasn’t received a response.

A county spokesperson said they are not abandoning the project, they are still in communication with the homeowner and continuing to work to resolve this issue. They weren’t able to provide specifics on whether they would have a civil engineer come out but did say they would fix this problem.