# Area man swallowed by sinkhole **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 1, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724 "2013-03-01T13:49:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/42 "2013-03-05T06:43:44Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > I had not even heard of a sinkhole before this. Never heard of Sinkhole De Mayo? ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/43 "2013-03-05T10:04:05Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > I told my kid he’d been jumping on the bed. Now, that is just mean. You know that one day, there will be a thread started on the Dope “I’ve been petrified of jumping for my entire life…Can jumping in a room really cause a sinkhole.” ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/44 "2013-03-05T10:44:11Z")
Yep, this is totally Twilight Zone time. What really freaked me out is that his brother, who was scrambling down in it trying to find him, said he could hear him callling for help. This is why I plan to get drunk and finally join an orgy _because you just never know._ And, as far as burial, they spent how much to find John-John and family just to then bury them at sea? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/45 "2013-03-05T16:30:54Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > Yep, this is totally Twilight Zone time. What really freaked me out is that his brother, who was scrambling down in it trying to find him, said he could hear him callling for help. Scrambling down in it? He’s braver than I am. They showed the hole on the news last night, and it looked like a black circle. I had been picturing it differently, like the hole you’d dig for a swimming pool, with sloping sides. The sinkhole on the news looked more like a cylinder. Nothing you’d want to get close to, let alone climb down into it. ::shudder:: ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/46 "2013-03-05T17:13:13Z")
> [@Enkel](#): > > I wonder what they’re going to put on the guy’s death certificate. They really don’t know what the exact cause of death is. > > Also… why do people live in Florida? The lightening strike capital of the world, sinkhole alley, the whole hurricane season thing, bugs so big that the sinkholes might actually just be their nests and -oh yea- dogs that off their owners and never get prosecuted. That’s funny, I was just thinking, “Why do people who do not live in Florida hate it so much? What did Florida do to you?” (2000 Presidential election aside. You got me on that one. :D) I moved to Florida because I hate being cold. I hate snow and ice. Why not Arizona? Because I also like the ocean. A lot. It’s the only part of the country where it A) never snows, B) is surrounded by ocean on three sides, and C) also has some industry and stuff so I can have a job. I’ve lived here since 1992. I have not encountered any face-eating zombies. Yet. The hurricane season thing is not much different from blizzard season. Once in a while, there’s a storm coming your way and you get to choose to prepare for it or get outta dodge. With regard to lightning, I’ve only lost one television to lightning and the repair guy was able to fix it. The bugs don’t bother me too much, nor the snakes and alligators. That’s why they have exterminators and the snakes and alligators mostly hang out in their own habitat and not mine. Sure there’s sinkholes, but having your entire bed swallowed up in an instant is actually pretty rare (which is why it’s NEWS). For the most part, sinkholes start as a smallish hole and grow slowly enough to get yourself and your stuff to safety. (Hurricanes: Also sufficient warning to get you and your stuff to safety.) What’s left is the cookoo for Cocoa Puffs fringe nutjob element – like LA, and Las Vegas, and probably New Orleans, Florida is where criminals and freaks go to hide from whatever they’ve done in their lives elsewhere. (Ted Bundy being a good example.) No state is safe from that madness. And, that creepy governor we have right now? I can’t see him making it through a second term, but even if he does, we’ll all still be here. I totally get if, you don’t like all these things, you wouldn’t want to live, or even visit, here. What I don’t get is why everyone hates on Florida and wants to just lop it off the country and send it afloat in the Atlantic. Fuck that, let’s get rid of Montana! It’s not doing anything useful up there. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/47 "2013-03-05T17:29:47Z")
what’s an area man? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/48 "2013-03-05T17:35:58Z")
Last time we saw him he was in this _area_. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/49 "2013-03-05T17:54:32Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > what’s an area man? Well, if you went by MST3K’s euphemistic use of the word “area,” he’d be one of the most disturbing superheroes ever. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/50 "2013-03-05T17:58:28Z")
really? odd that i’ve not heard it before. so i guess it’s American English? and not something to do with the Onion? (google gave me Onion links for some reason) ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/51 "2013-03-05T18:10:42Z")
**shijinn** , it just means that he was a local, from that area, a resident. “Area man” is the tagline a small newspaper might use to indicate it’s someone readers might have a connection to. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/52 "2013-03-05T18:13:51Z")
To be serious, it’s a little bit archaic, but local news reports will occasionally describe someone living in their coverage area (but perhaps not the big city itself) as “area man” or “area woman.” Sometimes, it’s used with the person’s occupation like “area student” or “area police officer.” As opposed to a national report, which would refer to this guy as “Florida man.” ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/53 "2013-03-05T18:14:58Z")
thanks. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/54 "2013-03-05T18:45:34Z")
This happened about 20 miles from me. Before I moved here, I’d never heard of a sinkhole, but they’re not that uncommon. For the rest of his life, the poor son of a bitch will probably hear his brother screaming for help as the sinkhole collapses on him. What a hell of a way to wake up. _shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/55 "2013-03-05T19:07:53Z")
> [@Enkel](#): > > Ten biggest sink holes: [http://everycountryisbeautiful.blogspot.com/2012/11/10-biggest-sinkholes.html](http://everycountryisbeautiful.blogspot.com/2012/11/10-biggest-sinkholes.html) > > Notice that FL and TX claim spots 9 and 10 on the list… I always thought there was something a little unstable about those states. From [http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/sinkholes.html](http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/sinkholes.html) > [@](#): > > The most damage from sinkholes tends to occur in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/56 "2013-03-05T19:45:32Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > I had not even heard of a sinkhole before this. You never saw the Simpsons Movie? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/57 "2013-03-06T01:25:00Z")
> [@LurkerInNJ](#): > > Wouldn’t there be warning signs ahead of time in the house? Floor or wall cracks? Noise? Sometimes yes, other times not enough to know that you’d better get out, if the point of origination of the collapse is deep enough. Early cracks or creaking could be indistinguishable from “settling” and major cracking, loud noise or rumbling may come only as the collapse is already in progress. With a karst-terrain sinkhole the eroded cavity that causes it could be a considerable distance below the surface in the limestone layers – the sinkhole happens when the layer is undermined enough that it can no longer support the weight of the overburden layers and gives way, and depending on the configuration of the formation and on the nature of the overburden (sandy, clay, dry, wet) the sinkhole may happen gradually or very, very quickly with the whole column just falling into the cavity seemingly at once. > [@AuntiePam](#): > > Scrambling down in it? He’s braver than I am. > > They showed the hole on the news last night, and it looked like a black circle. I had been picturing it differently, like the hole you’d dig for a swimming pool, with sloping sides. The sinkhole on the news looked more like a cylinder. Nothing you’d want to get close to, let alone climb down into it. ::shudder:: Probably at the early stage, as it was opening up, it was not quite as wide, deep or steep and still had a lot of the floor and slab wreckage making up its upper walls. As it progresses then it becomes deeper and steeper – if it looks just like a black circle then it may be that the upper cavity has by now grown into at least a cylinder and maybe even a cone or dome shape. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/58 "2013-03-06T06:51:13Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#): > > the poor son of a bitch will probably hear his brother screaming for help as the sinkhole collapses on him. What a hell of a way to wake up. From reports that I’ve read, it seems like this occurred in the late evening while the rest of the household was still awake. My guess is that he retired early to “polish the silverware”. ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vegetable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Space\_Vegetable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vegetable)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/59 "2013-03-07T06:09:03Z")
> [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](#): > > From reports that I’ve read, it seems like this occurred in the late evening while the rest of the household was still awake. My guess is that he retired early to “polish the silverware”. In other words, just before there was a Bush in a great hole, the victim may have been pondering just the opposite. (Sorry.) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/60 "2013-03-07T06:48:35Z")
I’m confused as to why the house disintegrated underneath him. The sub floor and floor joists should have stayed tied together long enough for someone to notice and get away. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724/61 "2015-08-19T19:10:11Z")
> [@](#): > > A 17-foot-wide sinkhole that killed a Florida resident in 2013 has re-opened in the same location it once did two years ago, authorities said. > > The hole opened again at 9:30 a.m. today at 240 Faithway Drive in Seffner and is about 20 feet deep, according to Larry McKinnon of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. > > “The hole opened up exactly where it was last time,” McKinnon told ABC News today. “Code enforcement is out there now and they are waiting on specialists and geologists to survey the site and determine what to do next. Not only is it very rare, but here, there was a fatality.” > **[Massive Sinkhole That Swallowed Florida Man Reopens, Two Years Later](https://abcnews.go.com/US/massive-sinkhole-swallowed-florida-man-reopens-years/story?id=33181156)** > > A 17-foot-wide sinkhole that killed a Florida resident in 2013 has re-opened in the same location it did two years ago, authorities said. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-man-swallowed-by-sinkhole/651724.md?page=4)