Short version of the story. A sink hole opened up, swallowing a sleeping guy. They authorities came, searched for him and found nothing. Thereafter, they declared that he’s most likely dead and called off the search leaving the dude somewhere down there, claiming it’s not possible to recover the “body.”
What lies ahead for the property? Will they cover the hole up with a guy who is probably dead, still in it? Will they leave it open so he can “save” himself? Will anyone choose to build on that site again, assuming they legally could? Will it become a shrine, a cemetery, a dump?
It sounds like they won’t try to recover the body because the ground is too unstable. I don’t think there’s a safe way for a person to descend into that hole to even look around. Maybe they could lower a trench-box with crane to look around, but that’s about it, the side walls could collapse burying anyone who is down there. On day one they used equipment to listen for any sounds. They’ll fill the hole now with some construction mix to stabilize the ground now.
This is an awful story. Can you imagine what the poor neighbors are thinking? I wonder what the probability of that happening to one of their houses next is. And if anybody was thinking of selling a home nearby…
The probability is about the same for anyone living in Florida.
If you’ve read the articles, you know this already: Florida sits on top of what is called a limestone karst. Limestone is extremely porous and dissolves in water. The ground underneath the sandy soil looks like swiss cheese. Factor in several days of rain and you get shifting, dissolving limestone that forms a hole that can swallow your whole house. I wouldn’t think it would affect nearby home values because this could happen to anyone, at any time.
I view any small hole that opens up in my backyard with great caution and suspicion.
And they will probably have to fill in the hole and the dude will not be found. That’s the sad part – he left a young wife and a 2-year-old behind. Heartbreaking.
Two tragedies:
[ul]
[li]Apparently the Florida insurance industry successfully lobbied the Florida Legislature that damage caused by sinkholes is not covered by insurance. Still looking for a cite to confirm this.[/li][li]Looks like the neighbors will have an empty lot on their street from now on. It will probably be impossible to rebuild on that location.[/li][/ul]
On the other hand, Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures has a new storyline to explore.
If you think about the fact that they say the sink hole is very large and 60 foot deep. Once they open it, they’ll probably back fill it with stuff much stronger that what was there before (like shredded asphalt, concrete from demolitions, etc.) So any house built on that lot would be safer from sinking again than the houses on near by lots.
If I had a nearby lot, I’d be kicking myself for owning it. If there was enough subterranean water flow to erode a sinkhole there, that water had to go somewhere.
Hillsborough County, on Florida’s west coast, is part of an area known as “sinkhole alley” that accounts for two-thirds of the sinkhole-related insurance claims in the state, according to a Florida state Senate Insurance and Banking Committee report.
This karsted topography, think of it less as an isolated underground pool and more as the conduit for a very slow moving underground stream.
They could make a swimming hole and charge all the neighborhood kids to swim there! Or they could build an amusement park over it. In Winter Park, they turned their big sinkhole into a lake attraction.
#8 and #9 (scroll down) in this link shows two big sinkholes in FL.
When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up!
We are talking about a house worth about $90,000, of which the land is worth $20,000 to $25,000. Does anyone have a clue as to how much it costs to haul in dirt fill, compact and grade? My gut reaction is that it is probably substantially more than the land is worth considering how big the hole is.
But there are also two neighboring houses (which haven’t fallen in) which are also on top of this hole.
I have not heard which if any of these three houses has sinkhole insurance. Apparently sinkhole insurance is very expensive and sold separately from house insurance. But apparently mortgage holders usually require it. So some of these homes may have it and others not have it–because their mortgage is paid off and they don’t want to spend the money.
There have also been very substantially costs already run up–by the sinkhole engineering experts and the demolition contractors. Who is going to pay for this?
I have the feeling the home owner could well end up with nothing house/landwise plus thousands of dollars of bills.
Two tragedies:
[LIST]
[li]Apparently the Florida insurance industry successfully lobbied the Florida Legislature that damage caused by sinkholes is not covered by insurance. Still looking for a cite to confirm this.[/li][/QUOTE]