FL Brandon, Sinkhole Swallows House, Man Trapped

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I'm still stunned by this news. I can not imagine. How incredibly frightening. My prayers go out for the man who lost his life, his brother who tried desperately to save him and the rest of the family.
 
PC now on HHN. How horrible. Ill think about this when I go to bed tonight.
 
The hole was made of sand and when rescue team came to the scene, they couldn't even see anything inside of the hole, only sand (presser live on HLN), likely it was over-saturated with water. JMO
 
.....
The Associated Press ‏@AP
BREAKING: Officials describe Florida sinkhole that swallowed man as 'seriously unstable' and say it will grow - SM
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Doing a live presser. I missed part of it. Started at 15 ft deep now at 25 to 30 ft deep.

Also, 30 ft around, then 20 ft of sand deep then clay.

Not sure when they will be able to go in, if ever.

Interviewed the Deputy who was first responder and pulled the brother out.

Engineers now talking. 2 collapses. hole has gotten deeper and a further collapse is very possible as the sides are vertical and expected to fall further.

25 to 60 ft is a clay like material with a water table?

They can't do anything but "sit and wait"

Will be bringing in lights tonight and continue to monitor.

Engineer...
Unstable condition, trying to predict when it will collapse is not an option, days weeks or months, hard to tell, then the other guy said it should have collapsed by now.

It was actually collapsing when the deputy first arrived.

The 911 call was vague, Deputy wasn't sure what was happening when he first got there.

Good working people that are devastated.

Officer has been off since 7:00 am but couldn't sleep. Deputy is deeply moved and is asking for Prayers.

Red Cross is helping the family and neighbors. Hotels and food, clothing.

Not sure if anyone including neighbors will be able to go back and get personal belongings.

Houses are 20 to 30 ft apart.

Expert said this event is unprecedented.

That's the best I could do, slow typist.

I'll post the link when it's available unless someone beats me to it.

www.myfoxtampabay.com
 
Coldpizza said:
One of the comments on the above article reminded me. I think it was last year around this time when a huge sinkhole opened up on I 4. Many believe some of this is due to the large amounts of water the strawberry farmers use especially when temps get close to freezing. This is more common than you would think, but my husband who has lived here for ions can't recall a human life taken.
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CP we were discussing this at work today. One of my co-workers who lived in that area before moving said the same thing about he strawberry farmers and the aquifer. I was thinking when I first heard on news this morning you hear about that so much in that area of Florida. Now I understand better, but don't understand. I still don't get the sink holes.

Just watch the live clip on ABC so sad. The officer that pulled the bro out look like he was about to cry. Said he had been there all of his shift last night. When he got off he could only sleep for about an hour and half. I'm sure it was an horrible site to see. I did read on one news site that the bro was saying you could hear the other bro hollering for a while. Omg!
 
QueenD said:
CP we were discussing this at work today. One of my co-workers who lived in that area before moving said the same thing about he strawberry farmers and the aquifer. I was thinking when I first heard on news this morning you hear about that so much in that area of Florida. Now I understand better, but don't understand. I still don't get the sink holes.

Just watch the live clip on ABC so sad. The officer that pulled the bro out look like he was about to cry. Said he had been there all of his shift last night. When he got off he could only sleep for about an hour and half. I'm sure it was an horrible site to see. I did read on one news site that the bro was saying you could hear the other bro hollering for a while. Omg!
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The elevation in that part of Fl is only 50 ft above sea level and the aquafer is only 20 to 25 ft below the surface. The aquafer is like an underground stream that most of us who have wells dig in to that which supplies our water. When farmers "hoard" the water it depletes the quota so to speak in which we all share sometimes.

The movement of the stream underground washes away the sand causing an open pocket below the ground,if the pocket gets too close to the surface the pocket caves in.

It's been happening as long as Florida has been around. Really, Florida is just a sand bar.
 
Would you not just be in disbelief? Unreal nightmare for this family. My prayers are with them.
 
Here's a very famous and large sink hole. It used to connect and empty in to the St. John's River and paddle boats use to run from Gainesville to the River on the East coast. They would transport cargo and passengers back in the day until the giant sinkhole swallowed up all the water!

It almost sounds like folklore but it's true and fascinating.

http://www.tidewater-florida.com/stateparks/paynes-prairie-preserve.htm

Google paynes prairie sinkhole
 
QueenD said:
http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/ne...an-one-of-hundreds-that-have-formed-over-eons




Info on sink holes in Florida
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Thanks QueenD. From the article above interesting information.

Notably, the Brandon area is prone to the most sinkholes, called "cover collapse" sinkholes. They develop very quickly and are nearly impossible to predict.

One of the most famous sinkholes in Central Florida developed in 1981 in Winter Park near Orlando.

The sinkhole was first spotted by Mae Rose Owens when the ground began collapsing next to her home on West Comstock Avenue. Within a day or so, the sinkhole swallowed Owens' home, five Porsches at a car dealership and and a good chunk of the town's Olympic-sized swimming pool, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
 
Show Me said:
Thanks QueenD. From the article above interesting information.

Notably, the Brandon area is prone to the most sinkholes, called "cover collapse" sinkholes. They develop very quickly and are nearly impossible to predict.

One of the most famous sinkholes in Central Florida developed in 1981 in Winter Park near Orlando.

The sinkhole was first spotted by Mae Rose Owens when the ground began collapsing next to her home on West Comstock Avenue. Within a day or so, the sinkhole swallowed Owens' home, five Porsches at a car dealership and and a good chunk of the town's Olympic-sized swimming pool, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
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Didn't know that Kingsley lake was formed from a sink hole. Been there many times.

Very interesting read for me.
 
Herding Cats said:
My prayers are with everyone...but especially with the man who tried to save his brother. How terrible to live with that.

Best-
Herding Cats
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POOR guy, he tried so hard to save his brother!

Why Oh Why Can't this happen to the house where the wicked Casey Anthony is living?

Dear God Please Bless the Family and Friends of the Victim of this Sad Tragedy!
 
Oh my, that is so scary! What a horrific way to die and to live through :(
 
Wise Old Owl said:
There's no mining of anything anywhere even remotely near this city. Mostly orange groves and crops. But mining? In Florida? Nope. Not even close.

Florida sits on limestone. Limestone is easily eroded by water. But my theory (being a native Floridian) is that the limestone creates little pinnacles and we've been sucking the water out from underneath for a long long time - leaving nothing but crusty, brittle, weak points for all this concrete to sit on. Once it goes - it goes....
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Good theory, Owl. My mother worked for the Florida Department of Water Management for 30 years; she was saying exactly the same thing years ago, that the state was taking too much water out of the aquifers. (As you well know, the population has continued to explode since then.)
 
fred&edna said:
"Mortgage companies are more and more requiring Florida home buyers to have sinkhole coverage on their homeowners insurance policy," said K.C. Williams, a Tampa sinkhole and property damage claims lawyer who lives 2 miles away from the damaged home.


- See more at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...20130301,0,1600381.story#sthash.QR6YSIcA.dpuf
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I live in Hernando county, #2 for Sink hole activity. This is my fear, that I will be home one day and just be swallowed up in the earth. My street has had 6 houses with Sink holes and it scares me. Out main road was shut down 3 times because of it opening up, and this is a busy road. We have sink hole insurance, but they gave us a $20,000 deductable. Yep that is right. So even if we get one, where does the money come from to pay up front costs? We have Citizens, and if you live in FL you know that they are the only ones writting sink hole coverage in Hernando. We have no were else to turn. I want to move in the worst way, but we would take a huge hit on the house and we would have to still pay off the mortage and we would end up with little to nothing to buy a new home. So for now I have to sit here, and hope we are not the next sink hole lottery winners. :(
 
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