Sinkholes force families out
Six Hernando County sinkholes damage roads, threaten houses - and make residents very nervous.
By CHANDRA BROADWATER and GRAHAM BRINK
Published March 4, 2006
SPRING HILL - The first sinkhole tore a 40-foot gash in the ground early Friday afternoon. Then another appeared across the street, and still another on a nearby property.
By the end of the day, six sinkholes had cracked roads, swallowed the back end of a cement truck and threatened the stability of as many as 10 homes in this southwest Hernando County neighborhood.
The sinkholes forced four families to evacuate and rattled other residents in an area already reeling from hundreds of sinkholes and the corresponding spike in insurance rates.
"We're not happy about this," said Gary Solomon, as he prepared to evacuate his Cobblestone Drive home. "But what are you supposed to do? I guess this is Florida: sinkholes and hurricanes."
The sinkholes appeared within 1,000 yards of each other. Engineers continued to monitor for movement in the ground on Friday evening, since sinkholes often widen for a few days after they first appear.
In particular, two large holes side-by-side on Toledo Road could get bigger and threaten the stability of houses, officials said.
While four families were forced to leave, another family living near a smaller hole planned to stay unless ordered out.
The evacuees might return home today if the situation does not worsen, said Tom Leto, Hernando County's emergency management director.
Utility crews planned to fill one sinkhole as soon as possible to keep an exposed water main from rupturing. Officials said they hope by Monday to have a plan to repair the other holes.
Charles Mixson, director of public works for Hernando County, said the roads will remain closed through the weekend until the sinkholes stabilize.
Mixson said it was too early to predict how much the repairs would cost the county.
"We'll know better next week," Mixson said.
When the first hole opened in Preston Boone's front yard, a crew came out to fill it in. He was watching TV when one of the workers knocked on his door. The hole had grown. It was now 30 feet wide and 40 feet deep.
Boone said he was stunned.
"(It) took the septic tank with it," Boone said.
No one was injured, county officials said, though the driver of a Florida Rock Industries cement truck that drove into one of the six holes was lucky to get away unhurt.
Hernando Department of Works crew members Ralph Wirsching and Al Domenico were inspecting the holes when they realized the severity of the situation.
Just then three trucks passed them on the road. They were able to stop two, but it was too late for the Florida Rock truck. The front end of the truck made it over a weak spot, but the back end broke through the asphalt.
"That driver was scrambling to get out of there as fast as he could," Domenico said. "He had no idea what was going on."
A wrecker and crane eventually pulled the truck out.
No one knows for sure why so many sinkholes open in western Hernando and Pasco counties. Geologists say the limestone bedrock in the area is close to the surface, making it more likely to break apart, creating the holes.
The worst year for sinkholes in recent memory was 2001, when more than 65 sinkholes opened in Spring Hill - most of them northeast of the one that formed on Friday - causing the evacuation of at least four homes.
The Southwest Florida Water Management District blamed the 2001 outbreak on weather conditions: a prolonged drought dropped groundwater levels and opened spaces in the limestone, followed by heavy summer rains that weighed down the covering layer of soil.
Swiftmud spokesman Michael Molligan said Friday that sinkholes can appear at any time.
"It doesn't have to be right after a rain," he said.
Homeowners in both counties have been hit by skyrocketing insurance rates, due in large part to sinkholes.
In fact, Pasco County is responsible for at least two-thirds of the $95-million that state-run Citizens Property Insurance paid in sinkhole-related insurance claims since 2002. In the past three years, residents in west Pasco County have filed 1,174 insurance claims for sinkhole damage.
The problem has caused some private insurance companies to pull out of the area while Citizens' rates have increased as mush as 67 percent in the last year.
The insurance problem prompted a meeting this week at which 600 residents booed Tom Gallagher, the state's chief financial officer and former insurance commissioner. Citizens chairman Bruce Douglas detailed a new proposal at the meeting that would cap sinkhole claims at $10,000. Solomon, the Cobblestone Road homeowner, moved to Hernando County almost two years ago after dealing with another sinkhole at his family's old house in Port Richey.
On Friday afternoon, Solomon's 11-year-old daughter Jessica came down the street after getting off her school bus. She was greeted by caution tape around her home, flashing lights and curious neighbors and media crews.
She started to cry.
"I don't want to move again," she said. "I don't want to have to start another school."
Times staff writers Chris Tisch, Asjylyn Loder and Dan DeWitt contributed to this report.
SINKHOLE WARNING SIGNSFresh exposures on fence posts, foundations and trees that result when the ground sinks.
Slumping, sagging or slanting fence posts, trees or other objects.
Doors and windows that fail to close properly.
Small ponds of rainfall forming where it has not collected before.
Wilting of small, circular areas of vegetation. This happens because moisture is draining away into a sinkhole developing below the surface.
Muddy water in nearby wells.
Cracks in walls, floors, pavement and in the ground.
Increased numbers of sinkholes can generally be attributed to retention ponds, new construction, changes in drainage patterns, heavy traffic, drilling vibrations or declining groundwater levels.
Sources: Southwest Florida Water Management District