Three Sinkholes Leave Florida Neighborhood on Edge

[KamaAina]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/three-sinkholes-leave-florida-neighborhood-edge-n250196

Three sinkholes have opened up within blocks of one another in the span of a single week, putting the residents of a Tampa Bay-area neighborhood on edge. The first hole formed Monday and engulfed a car before it stopped growing at 10 feet deep by 10 feet wide, according to a statement from Pasco County Emergency Management. The car’s owner, Anna Maria Boi-Jones, also had to flee her mobile home, which sat at the edge of the hole and ended up being condemned. “This is a shock, there's no place I have to go anymore,” Boi-Jones told NBC affiliate WFLA. Five other mobile homes were evacuated. The second hole — which also swelled to 10 feet wide — opened in a nearby roadway but didn’t damage any cars or homes, according to NBC Miami. A third car-swallowing hole formed about a quarter-mile away in a driveway, according to The Associated Press.

Pasco County spokesman Doug Tobin announced that sewer work nearby had been suspended but didn’t say the construction had caused the holes. The uncertainty about the cause of the hole outbreak is worrying people who live in the area. “I hope they fix it and find out what’s going on,” said Pasco resident Debbie Adams, adding that the situation is “scary, very scary.”

[PADemD]

1. I would be scared, too.

Also near Tampa:

Earlier this year, Jeffrey Bush died when a sinkhole opened under his bedroom in Seffner, Fla., near Tampa. His body was never recovered. In August, sections of a building at a resort near Orlando collapsed into a sinkhole. No one was injured in that sinkhole.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/80-feet-wide-sinkhole-swallows-florida-home-boat-swimming-pool-article-1.1516643

[jwirr]

2. Curious: What is the cause of sinkholes? Is it related to the flooding and climate change?

[Warpy]

3. More likely to irrigation

although they can certainly be caused by flooding and especially by things like broken water lines.

What I find amazing is that no one has thought of geologists mapping the area for possible caverns close enough to the surface to cause sinkholes.

Still, the scariest one of all time has to be one in Guatemala:

[kimbutgar]

4. Isn't this the republican part of Florida?

Why are these people asking for help from the government? I thought they were all self sufficient. Government should not be involved. Personally I think the strong republican parts of Florida should go into a major sinkhole especially those areas that voted for Skeltor Scott. This is a karmic payback.

[KamaAina]

5. Actually, it's rather purplish

like most of the I-4 corridor stretching from Tampa through Orlando to Daytona,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasco_County,_Florida#Government_and_politics

Presidential Election Results 1960-2012
Year Democrat Republican
2012 45.9% 98,263 52.5% 112,427
2008 47.5% 102,417 51.1% 110,104
2004 44.4% 84,749 54.1% 103,230
2000 48.7% 69,576 48.1% 68,607
1996 49.8% 66,475 36.2% 48,355
1992 39.1% 53,130 35.1% 47,735
1988 43.9% 50,385 55.6% 63,820
1984 38.1% 40,962 61.9% 66,618
1980 38.5% 34,054 56.7% 50,120
1976 53.7% 33,710 45.1% 28,306
1972 27.9% 11,330 71.9% 29,249
1968 27.4% 6,292 42.4% 9,743
1964 51.7% 8,135 48.3% 7,606
1960 44.8% 5,832 55.2% 7,188