The Strange Tale of the Man who Fell in the Manhole

During one of our recent storms, an Encino resident went outside to find that his trash containers had been carried to the foot of the street by the downpour. Now it really was a dark and stormy night and on his way down the sidewalk he fell into an open manhole. It was one of those large 4x6 foot ones that’s on the sidewalk (see photo), and it was full of water – difficult to spot in the dark. He fell rapidly and didn’t hit bottom but he was fortunate to grab on to the side, where he was able to pull himself out and – soaking wet – he alerted the startled neighbors.

Why is this important, besides the fact that it could happen to anyone? The downpour had unleashed a flood of water that had lifted a 200lb steel manhole cover and flung it six feet and it gives you a sense of how things will play out in the event of a real storm. The flow of water in the Encino hills will be ferocious and many homes will be at risk. One way to mitigate this is to encourage homeowners up the hill to modify driveways and large properties, so that more water sinks into the soil instead of all being diverted to storm drains.

The other issue is our lack of awareness about the utilities we all live with. The neighbors the man alerted thought maybe the manhole belonged to the Gas Company and they left them a message. It wasn’t theirs of course. Fortunately a City worker happened to be driving by later that night and put barriers around it, but it seems unlikely the Gas Company alerted the City. What exactly is the system of communication between the City and the utilities? It was days later when residents began calling the telephone company to complain about breaks in service that anyone realized the hole down the street could be responsible and that is when the manhole cover was restored – by the telephone company. Of course there is a PT&T on the lid but apparently no one noticed or figured it out right away.

The first number to call: LA County Department of Public Works hotline 800-675-HELP (4357).