Two years later, no one has fixed expanding Phenix City sinkhole

PHENIX CITY, Ala. (WRBL) — A sinkhole has been expanding for two years. So far, no one is claiming responsibility for the repairs.

Once just a few feet across, the giant sinkhole now threatens to consume a house on Mimosa Road in Phenix City. It has already eaten away parts of the road outside the residence and is expanding into at least one neighboring property.

Across the street, neighbor Eathan Betzler said the sinkhole wasn’t there when he moved in during the summer of 2023. Three months later, the issues began.

“There was a very, very small hole that started to form in their front yard, not even really in their driveway,” Betzler remembered. “Then, just over time, it just kept getting bigger and bigger and sinking until it engulfed, obviously, their entire driveway and then part of their house.”

The home once owned by Kaleb Walbeck now balances on top of crumbling foundations, as if on stilts that could snap at any moment.

In a call with WRBL, Walbeck said he was forced to leave the home once conditions became unlivable, filing for bankruptcy in Sept. 2024.

Walbeck lost an estimated $10,000 between the displacement and cost of an attorney. He has since moved away from Georgia and declined an on-camera interview.

Even as the hole has expanded past the residential property and into the road, neither Phenix City, Lee County nor Russell County would claim responsibility for fixing the road or the hole when WRBL inquired.

According to Phenix City Police Department Chief Joseph Weierick, Phenix City police respond to some of the homes in the area but not all. Weierick said that the sinkhole does not impact response times, however officers must take detours or walk to respond to homes in the area.

As he prepares for a move, Betzler worries if he’ll be able to sell his home.

“It’s always a big worry that it’s right across the street,” Betzler said. “People coming over and looking at the house…they’re worried about either that sinkhole getting larger or if it’s ever going to get fixed.”

WRBL has reached out to Phenix City for an official statement but has not yet received a response.