Sinkhole swallows 3 cars in Chicago

This is not how most people expect to start the day.

A sinkhole unexpectedly opened up on a residential street in Chicago’s southeast side Thursday morning, swallowing three cars.

Officials blamed the sinkhole on a broken water main, according to the Chicago Tribune. Heavy rains and flooding have also been drenching the area.

[See a slideshow of the flooding in Chicago.]

One man on his way to work could not avoid driving his car into the crevasse. He was taken to a local hospital for minor injuries, according to report from Reuters.

Witnesses told the Tribune that the hole appeared to open up around 5 a.m., quickly spreading from 20 to 40 feet wide.

Neighborhood resident Ola Oni told the paper she was getting ready for work around 5 a.m. but had not yet gotten into her car when it fell into the gaping hole.

"It could have happened to me, I am lucky, I'm happy," Oni told the Tribune. She added,"In this kind of neighborhood, I don't think this should happen."

Sinkholes have plagued other areas like Florida, which has seen the underground dangers swallow businesses and homes, even taken a life.

Jeff Bush, a resident of Seffner, Fla., near Tampa, was killed last month when a hole opened up under his bedroom and swallowed him.