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Growing sinkhole swallows 2 homes near Tampa, Florida

pasco-county-florida-sinkhole-july-2017

A sinkhole that opened up Friday morning, July 14, 2017, in the Pasco County's Land O’ Lakes community near Tampa, western Florida continues to grow and has so far consumed a boat, 2 homes, and a pool. The event forced authorities to evacuate numerous homes as a precaution. No one was injured.

According to authorities, the sinkhole was first reported at 07:21 EDT (11:21 UTC) today as a depression. It started out as the size of a small pool under a boat on the property of one of the destroyed homes in the Ocean Pines Drive. 

Over the next 15 minutes, the hole swallowed the boat and was starting to move toward one of the houses. Shortly after, the house located at 21835 Ocean Pines Drive went into the sinkhole.

By 08:23 EDT, it reached the roadway, partially swallowing another home and forcing authorities to evacuate 11 nearby homes.

As of Friday afternoon, the hole grew into a 68-m-wide (225 feet) crater with an estimated depth of 15 m (50 feet). It continues consuming nearby infrastructure and officials fear that it could merge into a nearby lake. About 100 homes in the area are without power as a safety precaution. Boating in the nearby lake is suspended.

A 61-m-wide (200 feet) buffer around the hole was established as a safety precaution. 

Roads in the area have been closed and the Pasco County Sheriff's Office has set up checkpoints, allowing only residents in with proof of address at Cloverleaf and Pine, Grove and Pine, Lake Padgett Drive and Ocean Pines Drive.

Authorities said there has been a sinkhole in this same area five years ago.

Featured image: Growing sinkhole swallows 2 homes in Pasco County, Florida – July 14, 2017. Credit: ABC Action News 

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One Comment

  1. We keep digging out all the granite, quartz and marble from our foundation and wonder why the foundation is giving way…. We sell fancy countertops etc and never think that it can never be replaced in any time soon enough to benefit us, THINK If we take 8 blocks of concrete out of the foundation of our house, would we expect problems? Would we expect problems right where we took them out?…not necessarily. We would expect the foundation to weaken and collapse? How long have we been digging up our crust? Keep digging…keep buying the countertops..maybe your house will be next?!? C.C. Forche here author of the Christian book of arguments w/ 666 decoded in 9 languages and 5 alphabets what are those odds? see ” TENDING THE GARDEN” and “CHAOS A WORLD REPORT” and other arguments at christiantheoriesandconcepts.com…..God Bless us all , C.C.

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