The mayor of Harrisville declared a state of emergency Thursday evening, July 24, after the sudden collapse of underground storm drains cause two sinkholes in a parking lot.

Mayor Daniel Anschutz issued the declaration, saying the collapse of the drainage systems resulted in multiple sinkholes on private and public property.

The sinkholes opened up in a parking lot at the corner of Main and Mercer streets, near local restaurant Soup is Good.

Anschutz said the borough was scheduled to have a board meeting Thursday evening to deal with the first sinkhole before the second one opened up. He said the borough didn’t want to waste time advertising it and going through a bidding process, and wanted to act quickly to prevent anything more serious from happening.

“It’s more so in the parking lot. There’s a stretch of storm drains underneath. The pipe corroded and deteriorated, the gravel caved in, they’re not huge holes but we had to put a metal plate over it,” Anschutz said. “We noticed a second hole yesterday. I’m not sure if it’s because of the heat. There could have already been a hole underneath.”

The declaration said the situation posed risks to vehicles, pedestrians and infrastructure.

“These conditions endanger the health, safety and welfare of residents and require immediate action beyond the scope of normal municipal response,” Anschutz’ declaration said.

The declaration will remain in effect for seven days, unless extended by the borough council.