WTF? Good Grief! What are your thoughts to why this keeps happening?
I swear, I hear more stories about this all the time...And I never heard of it before about a decade ago..Why does this kind of thing seem to be increasing? WTF?
Florida man swallowed by sinkhole feared dead
Florida man swallowed by giant sinkhole
- NEW: The missing man cries as he falls into the hole
- NEW: Engineers with monitoring equipment find no signs of life
- The victim's brother tries to save the man
- The hole is about 100 feet wide
(CNN) -- A man swallowed by sinkhole under his bedroom in Florida is believed dead, authorities said early Friday, after monitoring equipment found no signs of life.
The 36-year-old "is presumed dead" after the incident Thursday night, according to Jessica Damico, a spokeswoman for the Hillsborough County Fire Department.
"It's not confirmed, but I think it's safe to presume," she said.
Engineers used monitoring equipment to search for signs of life without success. Some of the equipment went missing in the process.
"There is no evidence of him being alive," she said.
The victim cried out to his brother for help as the hole that opened up under his bedroom in Brandon, a suburb of Tampa. The brother tried frantically to pull him out.
Rescuers had to take the brother away from the edge of the chasm as it continued to grow, with the lost man nowhere in sight.
Using radar, engineers determined the sinkhole is about 100 feet in diameter, but it is not visible above ground except from inside the house.
The ground covering the massive cavity is mostly intact, but it could buckle, taking the entire house down with it -- as well as neighboring homes.
Authorities have evacuated the neighborhood.
The hole occurred naturally, Damico said, and is still actively developing. It is not man-made.
The bedroom is on top of the hole's center. Engineers will return with more sophisticated monitoring equipment after daybreak to get a better idea of its dimensions. They believe it could be 50 feet deep.
Authorities were unable to contact the victim as the sinkhole expanded, and the house was deemed unsafe for rescuers. The local fire marshal has condemned it, Damico said.
Five adults and one 2-year-old child were inside the home when chasm opened up, she said.
The victim's brother, who attempted to rescue him, was first taken to the Red Cross, then a local hotel.
Neon Washable Paint
What??? That's crazy scary and so sad! One minute sleeping peaceful..then dropping to your death.
Quit building on unstable ground? This article doesn't say whether the house was built on former marshland or not. It does say that the sink hole was a naturally-occurring one.
Could be that there is nothing that could have been done to prevent it other than not building there in the first place. If it's a geological phenomenon, it's going to keep happening.
Do the frack near Tampa? I just wonder if this sudden appearance of sink holes has anything to do with fracking....they seem to have appeared around the same time.
How awful...and the thing could end up swallowing neighboring homes. It's creepy the way these things are opening up just anywhere. I seem to remember something about one opening up on a road not to long ago. Pretty scary that it's no longer completely shocking.
Quoting NWP:Do the frack near Tampa? I just wonder if this sudden appearance of sink holes has anything to do with fracking....they seem to have appeared around the same time.
I wonder if this is something that must be disclosed at time of sale?
Ugh.
Quoting FrogSalad:Quit building on unstable ground? This article doesn't say whether the house was built on former marshland or not. It does say that the sink hole was a naturally-occurring one.
Could be that there is nothing that could have been done to prevent it other than not building there in the first place. If it's a geological phenomenon, it's going to keep happening.
Neon Washable Paint
Thanks for the info...I have been around for a while and just never heard about this kind of thing happening until about a decade ago. Seems they are everywhere now.
Quoting Mrs.Pedro:
Everything I saw on google search indicates they are possibly going to do it, but not actively doing it. It seems to be more of a natural phenomenon at this point. With everything else going on with the climate changes, maybe there is beginning to be too much underground water... Like maybe it is eroding the ground in some places causing it to weaken and sink in.
Quoting NWP:Do the frack near Tampa? I just wonder if this sudden appearance of sink holes has anything to do with fracking....they seem to have appeared around the same time.
Neon Washable Paint
There's a good general article HERE.
Sinkholes are more prone to happen in certain areas, so while it may seem "common" in Florida, in Iowa, it would be a rarity. I live in the shaded portion of Iowa, but I've never heard of one happening around here besides those caused by building over a landfill or old strip mine.
Who would you save?
- NWP
on Mar. 1, 2013 at 7:42 AM