To report a sinkhole, call the agency responsible for the land it’s on: 911 if anyone or any structure is in immediate danger, your local public works department or 311 line for a sinkhole in a road or sidewalk, the relevant utility company if gas, water, sewer, or electric lines are involved, and your state geological survey together with local code enforcement for a sinkhole on private property. Knowing how to report a sinkhole is mostly a matter of getting it to the right desk the first time, because agencies without jurisdiction won’t respond.
Call 911 First If It’s Dangerous
Before you worry about which office to call, look at what’s in front of you. A sinkhole’s visible opening rarely reflects its full size underground, and the ground around it may already be undermined. Keep people, pets, and vehicles well back, and mark the area with anything you have on hand: caution tape, cones, lawn chairs.
Call 911 if the sinkhole is visibly growing, if you hear cracking or popping from the ground or a nearby structure, if a building looks structurally compromised, if someone is trapped or injured, or if utility lines are exposed or damaged. In documented incidents, emergency responders have set safety perimeters of 200 feet or more and evacuated neighboring homes. If the situation feels dangerous, get farther away and let responders decide the safe distance.
Who to Call Based on Where the Sinkhole Is
The right channel depends entirely on location. Calling the wrong agency doesn’t just slow things down; it can mean nobody responds at all.
On a Public Road or Sidewalk
Contact your local public works department or department of transportation. Most cities and counties take road hazard reports through a 311 phone line or an online portal, often labeled “Report a Problem” on the municipal website. Sinkholes on state-maintained highways go to the state department of transportation; look for their statewide operations center number, which usually handles after-hours emergencies.
On Private Property
The USGS recommends starting by ruling out a human cause, such as a leaking underground pipe or a buried construction pit that has settled. If utility damage seems possible, contact the water, sewer, gas, or electric provider. If the cause appears natural, your next call should go to your state geological survey, which has the expertise to explain why a sinkhole is forming at your location.1U.S. Geological Survey. I Have (or Think I Have) a Sinkhole on My Property. What Should I Do? Some state surveys offer online sinkhole reporting forms. Also notify your local building or code enforcement department, which can assess structural safety.
Near Utility Lines
If the sinkhole sits near gas, water, sewer, or electric infrastructure, contact that utility directly. A broken water or sewer main can cause a sinkhole, or make an existing one worse, so the utility company needs to inspect its lines regardless of what triggered the collapse. If you smell gas or see sparking lines, that’s a 911 call, not a utility call.
On Parks or Other Public Land
Report to the municipal or county parks and recreation department for park land, or the general public works office for other government-owned property. Sinkholes on federal land, such as national parks or forests, go to the managing federal agency.
When in doubt, a search for “sinkhole reporting” plus your city or county name will usually surface the right contact. Many jurisdictions don’t have a dedicated sinkhole channel, so you may end up routing through general infrastructure or road maintenance reporting.
Don’t Skip Your State Geological Survey
This channel deserves separate attention because most people don’t know it exists. State geological surveys are the frontline scientific agencies for sinkhole documentation in the United States. There is no national database of sinkhole collapses, and many, especially in rural areas, go entirely unreported.2U.S. Geological Survey. Sinkholes Some state surveys do track reported collapses within their borders and use that data to build hazard maps.
Filing with your state geological survey serves a different purpose than calling public works. Public works fixes the immediate hazard; the geological survey documents the event, studies the underlying geology, and contributes to maps that help communities plan around sinkhole risk. Some surveys can also tell you what’s likely happening beneath your property and recommend next steps.
What to Have Ready When You Call
A detailed report gets a faster response. Gather what you can from a safe distance:
- Location: street address, nearest intersection, and if possible GPS coordinates from a pin dropped in your phone’s maps app.
- Size and depth: your best estimate. “About four feet across and two feet deep” beats “big hole.”
- Visible damage: cracked pavement, leaning structures, buckled sidewalks, exposed utility lines.
- Water activity: whether water is flowing into the hole, pooling in it, or visibly draining away. This helps engineers judge whether a broken pipe is involved.
- Photos and video from multiple angles at a safe distance, with surrounding structures in frame for scale.
- Timeline: when you first noticed it, whether it has grown, and how fast.
- Your name, phone number, and email so the agency can follow up.
Timeline matters more than people realize. A hole that appeared overnight suggests a different mechanism than one that has been slowly widening for weeks, and that distinction affects how urgently the agency responds and what kind of expert they send.
How to File and Keep a Record
By phone, call the agency’s non-emergency line or 311 for municipal issues. State clearly that you’re reporting a sinkhole, give the details you’ve gathered, and ask for a confirmation or reference number. Write down the name of the person you speak with.
Online, most municipal public works departments run web portals for road and infrastructure problems. Look for categories like “road maintenance,” “street hazard,” or “drainage issue”; sinkhole-specific categories are rare. Upload your photos, be specific in the description field, and save the confirmation page or number.
By email, use a clear subject line (“Sinkhole Report — [Street Address]”), put all details in the body, attach photos, and request a reply confirmation.
However you report, keep your own record: date and time, the agency you contacted, any reference number, and the names of anyone you spoke with. If the sinkhole grows before the agency responds, call back and reference your original report.
What Happens After You Report
Response times vary widely. A sinkhole swallowing a lane of traffic will get a crew out in hours. A small depression in a backyard might wait weeks for inspection, if it draws one at all. Most local jurisdictions don’t have dedicated sinkhole programs or funding for repairs on private residential property, and the technical assistance available may be limited to advice on the likely cause and proper repair techniques.
For sinkholes on public infrastructure, expect an inspector to assess severity and cordon off the area if needed. The agency may bring in a geotechnical engineer for more complex situations, and you may get follow-up calls asking for additional information.
If It’s on Your Property, the Government’s Role Is Limited
On private property, government involvement is usually minimal. You will likely need to hire your own licensed geologist or geotechnical engineer to determine what’s happening underground and how to fix it.1U.S. Geological Survey. I Have (or Think I Have) a Sinkhole on My Property. What Should I Do? Reporting the sinkhole doesn’t obligate any agency to repair it.
Homeowners Insurance Probably Won’t Cover It
This is the part that blindsides most homeowners. Standard homeowners policies generally do not cover damage from natural sinkholes. Most contain an “earth movement” exclusion that groups sinkholes with landslides, mudslides, earthquakes, and ground subsidence. If a naturally occurring sinkhole damages your foundation, your standard policy will likely deny the claim.
The USGS advises homeowners to check their policy but warns that in most states, coverage for natural sinkholes simply isn’t included.1U.S. Geological Survey. I Have (or Think I Have) a Sinkhole on My Property. What Should I Do? Only a handful of states require insurers to offer sinkhole coverage, and “offer” doesn’t mean “include”: you typically have to buy a separate rider, which in high-risk areas commonly runs several thousand dollars per year.
Some states also draw a line between a sinkhole and what they call “catastrophic ground cover collapse.” The catastrophic version requires all four of the following: an abrupt collapse, a depression visible to the naked eye, structural damage to the building’s foundation, and the structure being condemned by a government authority. If your damage doesn’t meet every element, even a state that mandates catastrophic collapse coverage won’t pay.
If a broken municipal water main or sewer line caused the sinkhole, you may have a claim against the local government, but governmental immunity laws in most states make those claims difficult to win without clear evidence of negligence.
When FEMA Can Help
If a sinkhole damages your home during a federally declared disaster, such as a hurricane or major flood, FEMA may provide housing assistance. To qualify, your home must have been functional before the declared disaster, the sinkhole damage must have been caused by the disaster, the damage must not be covered by insurance, and a FEMA inspection must confirm the home needs repairs or is uninhabitable.3FEMA. FEMA Assistance for Houses Damaged by Disaster-Related Land Movement FEMA assistance is capped at a maximum housing award and is meant to make the home safe and habitable, not to restore it to pre-disaster condition. If your sinkhole appeared independent of any declared disaster, FEMA won’t be involved.