Rutledge — Neighbors in Grainger County aren't happy after their road collapsed.
A huge sinkhole is blocking the only way in and out of their neighborhood.
About a dozen houses sit on Honey Creek Lane near Cherokee Lake.
Most residents can't get out of the neighborhood because of the sinkhole.
Neighbors first thought it was a private road meaning they'd have to cover repairs, but county officials say it's a county road.
They're working fix it in the next couple of days. Machinery was out there Wednesday but the county says it could be several days before it's fixed.
"I'm just glad no one was driving over it when it happened," neighbor Martha Davies said.
It could've been disastrous.
"I said what a mess," Davies said. "This just looks like something you'd see on TV."
Davies wasn't watching a movie. She can't drive her car anywhere because the road collapsed.
"I have a neighbor that I can walk to her house and she'll be glad to give me a ride, or I could borrow her car," Davies said. "But I can't get mail."
County EMA director Jeff Atkins was out working to fix the sinkhole.
"We can't open the road, fix the road back until we stop the source," Atkins said.
He says the county fixed a sinkhole about ten years ago in the same spot.
"It turned out to be a cave in on the side of the road there, the size of a small swimming pool," Atkins said. "And the county had put some rip rap in it, compacted it back. And here today, it's opened up even worse."
Atkins called in TEMA and the U.S. Geological Survey to take a look.
The USGS says the original sinkhole could've been caused by the way water moves through the soil below the road.
Atkins wants to make sure the road's repaired quickly for safety reasons.
"We can't get an ambulance to them, we can't get a truck to them, so it's really a safety thing," Atkins said.
Davies hopes it'll get fixed soon.
"It's such a large hole, I have no idea how long it will take," Davies said.
Atkins says the best thing for people to do right now is to stay away from the hole, because it can be dangerous.