Concerns are growing over an expanding sinkhole in Sumter County.
The hole, which first opened Saturday, is approximately 65 feet wide and 70 feet deep.
For the second time in the past week, Giovanni Velocci walked outside his house to get his morning paper and found the sinkhole across the street.
"I called everybody," Velocci said. "I called the firemen, I called the police. I called the community watch."
Residents were told the ground was stabilized, but it wasn't.
Engineers returned to the neighborhood again Wednesday.
Joy Winkler, who lives nearby, is concerned.
"It started as a little tiny hole, but now look at it," Winkler said.
Truckloads of dirt were brought in to fill the sinkhole. Emergency management leaders said the plan is monitor it for 24 to 48 hours to see if the ground settles.
"It's Mother Nature and we are trying to figure out what her next step is," said Gina Lambert with The Villages Emergency Management.
If the dirt doesn't work, contractors will put more grout around the home and in the sinkhole.
Chuck Papineau said he just closed on his new home nearby. "My wife is devastated. She is already a worrywart."
When it first opened on Saturday, it was 20 feet wide and 35 feet deep. The following day, crews filled it with grout.
The two homes on either side of the sinkhole are threatened. No one is currently living in either one of the homes.
Nearby residents are staying in their homes. However, emergency management crews are trying to keep cars off the road and people away from the gaping hole.
"It's unnerving as hell, but it is what it is," Papineau said.
"Mother Nature is unpredictable," Velocci said. "We don't know what is underneath there."
Contractors said rain that we experienced Saturday when the sinkhole first opened might have aggravated the situation, which could be a contributing factor as to why it opened again.
"[The hole] getting wider is the scary part," said Frank Miller, a concerned resident.
What causes sinkholes?
Sinkholes are depressions or a collapse of the land surface as the limestone below cracks and develops fractures. Acidic waters seeping through the soil lead to the breakdown over long periods of time.
While these types of events often occur after a high accumulation of rainfall in a brief period of time, they can also take place in extremely dry conditions, as the water table below the surface drops or dries out.
Sinkhole Warning Signs
There are several signs you can watch for that may lead to the formation of a sinkhole:
- Fresh exposure 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
- Ponding: Small ponds of rainfall forming where water has not collected before
- Wilting of small, circular areas of vegetation, because the moisture that normally supports vegetation in the area is draining into a developing sinkhole below the surface
- Turbidity in water in nearby wells
- Structural cracks in walls, floors and pavement
- Cracks in the ground surface.
Think you might have a sinkhole?
If you think you have a sinkhole on your property:
- Mark and secure the hole. Keep children and pets away.
- If the hole is directly affecting the house, stay outside of the dwelling.
- Call your property insurance adjuster and report it immediately.
- If the sinkhole causes extensive damage, contact your county's Office of Emergency Management.
If a sinkhole opens in a nearby road:
- Call the local law enforcement agency immediately.
- If the road is private, repair is the responsibility of the landowner or the property owner's association.