ISLE OF WIGHT, Va. (WAVY) — The Isle of Wight Sheriff’s Office reported Sunday that a portion of Orbit Road was closed due to collapsing as a result of the recent flooding.
There is a pond here behind the hole that overflowed, but earlier, the area was completely submerged in water.
“Come through here every day. Going to work and come by the pond and I never really thought about how the water could be washing out the road to make it cave like that,” said local resident Joey Edwards.
There are roadblocks in both directions and officials are asking that you avoid the area if you can and take an alternate route.
Edwards says his commute to work will be longer tomorrow.
“We were shocked because, like I said, I travel this way. This is the shortest path to work, and it’s probably another 15 minutes to go around to Smithfield,” he said.
Tommy Potter with the Sheriff’s Office says this is the best way to keep residents safe as the work continues to fix it. But, he hopes this serves as a reminder to people to not drive through flood waters.
“Turn around, don’t drown. You may think you can get through a section of water, but you may not understand the damage like we see here,” said Potter.
Potter added the county will be working with VDOT to fix the road over the next several days so drivers should expect to take a different route.
