A family in Windermere, Florida was forced to evacuate when a sinkhole swallowed their backyard, threatening their home. The sinkhole is now over 100 feet wide, and 50 feet deep.
The family discovered the sinkhole on Thursday morning, and called 911. Lou Lambro, stated to the 911 operator that, “There’s a hole in my backyard.”
When police initially arrived, the hole was 34 feet across, but now stretches to over 100 feet wide and long, and at least 50 feet deep. And it is still growing.
The Lambrose family immediately evacuated the home, which thankfully has sinkhole insurance. Several neighbors also vacated their homes, in case the sinkhole in the Summerport division, near Orlando, grows larger.
While officials are working to prevent the sinkhole from growing larger, there is no guarantee that their efforts would save the home. Neighbor Bryan Denis told BayNews9 that:
“It’s way too close to the house. It’s actually part of the yard now. I don’t want my kids anywhere near it.”
A sinkhole is created when underground water reservoirs erode away at the rock above them. Eventually, the rock collapses and the ground underneath gives way. Authorities must wait until the hole has finished growing, then they can come in with rock and dirt to fill it in.
David Weary, a U.S. Geological Survey research geologist David Weary stated that:
“A sinkhole is basically a closed depression that forms in the ground. The simple explanation is that the ground surface falls into a void. In nature, sinkholes collapse fairly rarely but it seems to happen more and more in developed areas because people redirect storm water and it sets them off.”
Research has shown that, while sinkholes rarely open up, they can occur in 40% of the United States.
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