A Plant City family is waiting for ground penetrating radar results to learn if they can return to their home after a sinkhole opened up beneath the back patio concrete slab on Saturday.
"When it started, we was all sitting in there watching TV because it was raining real hard," said homeowner Thomas Manus. "All of a sudden we heard a big thump and I guess that's when the dirt left out from underneath the house."
Manus said the sinkhole appeared to be about 4-to-5 feet deep and 10-to-12 feet wide. The homeowner said he has sinkhole insurance and the company hired L.R.E. Ground Services to check out the problem beneath his home at 4604 Country Hills Ct. N., in Plant City.
"They come in yesterday afternoon and filled the void with grout," Manus said. "These guys... are trying to put two pins down to try to stabilize the back of the house. Until they get further information from the radar."
The homeowners said the contractors told him they hit limestone with those pins at 105-feet down into the ground. The contractors turned down a request for an interview.
The Manus family said they've been living in a Lakeland hotel since Saturday. They got help quickly removing all of their valuables from the home.
"All the major stuff is out of the house," Manus said. "I want to thank the people that came out and helped. We're very grateful."
Manus' daughter, Lindsey, said she's still worried about the sinkhole. Especially, after a sinkhole opened up beneath a Seffner man's bedroom and swallowed him alive as he slept in bed earlier this year. That man's body was never recovered.
"I'm just concerned for the safety of my family and my daughter obviously," she said.
Manus said he hopes to know the ground penetrating results by Wednesday.
"They brought the radar detector in and went inside the house and went and done the whole yard," he said. "Collecting data to see if there's anymore inside the house or inside the yard."