Heavy rain and loose soil has led to deteriorating road conditions and a 200-foot sinkhole in the Ford City area.

Mark Evans with the Kern County Roads Department says they had to shut down a section of Cedar Street at Highway 119 because of flooding and new potholes on Sunday.

“Once it becomes very wet, it tends to become kind of unstable and tends to settle out a little bit more,” he said.

He says the intersection was reopened Monday afternoon after hours of pumping.

Less than a half-mile away from the intersection, the sinkhole forced firefighters to check structures near Van Buren and Date streets.

– Anthony Pollreisz