LAND O’ LAKES, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on a sinkhole that swallowed a home in Florida (all times local) : 4: 15 p…
LAND O’ LAKES, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on a sinkhole that swallowed a home in Florida (all times local) :
4: 15 p.m.
Officials say a third home is threatened by a growing sinkhole in Florida.
The sinkhole that opened up Friday morning in Land O’ Lakes quickly swallowed one home and consumed about 80 percent of another. By Friday afternoon, Pasco County public safety official Kevin Guthrie said, the sinkhole threatened to damage a third home as it continued to grow slowly.
Guthrie said the sinkhole stretched up to 250 feet (76 meters) across and 50 feet (15 meters) deep.
Sheriff Chris Nocco said that within roughly 30 feet of the sinkhole, the ground was soft underfoot and felt like it was moving.
Eleven homes have been evacuated, including the two destroyed homes. Property appraiser records show sinkholes previously were stabilized at both properties.
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12: 50 p.m.
A property appraiser says the ground where a sinkhole has swallowed a Florida home was stabilized in 2014.
A previous sinkhole at the same Land O’Lakes home and an adjacent property was identified in 2012. Pasco County Property Appraiser Gary Joiner said stabilization, with a process called grouting, was completed in 2014.
Joiner says dozens of pipes were driven up to 60 feet (18 meters) down into ground beneath the properties, then pumped full of concrete to stabilize the soil.
The home was sold in July 2015.
County officials say a hole that opened under the home Friday morning quickly grew to over 200 feet (60 meters) wide and 50 feet (15 meters) deep. No injuries were reported, but a boat also was swallowed by the sinkhole.
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12: 20 p.m.
A Florida home has been swallowed up by the ground in an area where a previous sinkhole had happened.
Officials in Pasco County say the hole was the size of a small swimming pool when crews arrived Friday morning, but it quickly grew to over 200 feet (60 meters) wide and 50 feet (15 meters) deep. By 9: 30 a.m., the home had fallen into the sinkhole.
Kevin Guthrie of the county’s emergency management office told reporters the residents weren’t home but firefighters rescued their dogs and removed some of their belongings.
He says it was “frightening” to watch the home disappear into the hole.
Property records note a sinkhole confirmed in 2012 as “stabilized.” The home was sold in 2015.
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11: 40 a.m.
A sinkhole that started out the size of a small swimming pool and continued to grow has swallowed a home in Florida and severely damaged another.
Pasco County Fire Chief Shawn Whited said during a news conference that crews were called to the home north of Tampa about 7: 30 a.m. Friday after someone noticed a depression had formed under a boat parked outside a house. Within minutes, he says, “the hole opened up.”
Whited says the residents had left for work, but firefighters rescued two dogs and retrieved some of the home’s belongings. By 8: 30 a.m., part of the house collapsed. An hour later, the sinkhole had swallowed most of the home and a portion of the one next door.
County building officials have deemed about 10 homes unsafe and say more may be affected.
The Tampa Bay Times reports Duke Energy has cut power to about 100 homes in the neighborhood.
