Sinkhole Appears in the White House Lawn Outside Press Briefing Room

Reporters arrived at the White House on Tuesday to see a sinkhole outside the White House press briefing room.

The Washington, DC area has been saturated with rain in the last week, as up to seven inches of rain has fallen. It rained for eight straight days in the week of May 12, setting records for the wettest week in mid-May.

In August 2017, a replacement heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system for the West Wing was replaced, uprooting most of the North lawn. In 2018, workers continued to fix underground infrastructure, usually repairing the lawn with rolls of turf.

The hole appears to have been taped off for safety reasons.

UPDATE: Workers at the White House deployed a temporary fix of the sinkhole on Tuesday afternoon after Breitbart News and several news outlets reported it’s existence.