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Fla. sinkhole that swallowed man grows deeper
Yahoo!News ^ | March 2, 2013 | Tamara Lush

Posted on 03/02/2013 10:46:14 AM PST by Kaslin

SEFFNER, Fla. (AP) — Engineers worked gingerly Saturday morning to find out more about a slowly growing sinkhole that swallowed a Florida man in his bedroom, believing the entire house could eventually succumb to the unstable ground.

Jeff Bush, 37, was in his bedroom Thursday night when the earth opened and took him and everything else in his room. Five other people were in the house but managed to escape unharmed. Bush's brother jumped into the hole to try to help, but he had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy.

Engineers began doing more tests at 7 a.m. Saturday. Crews with equipment were at the home next door, one of two that has been evacuated. By 10 a.m., officials moved media crews farther away from the Bush house so experts could perform tests on the home across the street. It's unclear how large the sinkhole is, or whether it leads to other caverns and chasms throughout the neighborhood. Experts say the underground of West Central Florida looks similar to Swiss cheese, with the geography lending itself to sinkholes.

Experts spent the previous day on the property, taking soil samples and running various tests — while acknowledging that the entire lot where Bush lay entombed was dangerous. No one was allowed in the home.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Florida
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1 posted on 03/02/2013 10:46:18 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Bush’s fault.


2 posted on 03/02/2013 10:52:55 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (The ballot box is a sham. Nothing will change until after the war.)
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To: Kaslin

photo?


3 posted on 03/02/2013 10:54:25 AM PST by yldstrk (My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: Kaslin

Sequester’s fault — sign of things to come regarding the budget talks


4 posted on 03/02/2013 10:55:18 AM PST by Uncle Chip
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To: Kaslin

Global warming.


5 posted on 03/02/2013 11:07:20 AM PST by lurk
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To: ClearCase_guy

Erm - the family’s name is Bush. “Bush’s Fault” jokes may be inappropriate.


6 posted on 03/02/2013 11:10:57 AM PST by mrreaganaut (Coolidge 2016!)
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To: ClearCase_guy

Not Bush. it’s the Reagan tax cuts


7 posted on 03/02/2013 11:11:41 AM PST by Manta (Obama to issue executive order repealing laws of physics)
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To: yldstrk

No photo’s from inside the home that I’ve seen. Everyone is too scared of the sinkhole.


8 posted on 03/02/2013 11:12:27 AM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: mrreaganaut; ClearCase_guy

Clearcasely, it was just a joke.


9 posted on 03/02/2013 11:13:05 AM PST by Albion Wilde (If you're too busy to duck hunt or catch fish, you're too busy. --Jase Robertson, Duck Dynasty)
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To: Kaslin

Too bad this sinkhole is so far south. Imagine if it were a bigger sinkhole that swallowed Chicago!


10 posted on 03/02/2013 11:15:22 AM PST by MIchaelTArchangel (Have a wonderful day!)
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To: Kaslin
I've been reading about this. What an absolutely terrible thing to have happen to someone. The underground geography is limestone which is very soft. I wonder if anyone knew this when that neighborhood was built.

I know southern Indiana isn't known for sinkholes, but it is known for mining. I've been told that caverns extend many miles underground in and around places like Vincennes, Lyons, Linton, Crane Naval Base, etc.

I wonder what would happen to places in that area if/when the New Madrid fault slips again. I would bet whole towns would disappear into huge holes.

11 posted on 03/02/2013 11:17:00 AM PST by ducttape45
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To: Kaslin; All

I’m nearby, in Temple Terrace, and it’s quite likely that the weather may have been the contributing factor here. It’s the underlying limestone layer, which is very porous, which collapses, and causes the earth on top of it to drop down into the void. We haven’t had much rain lately, so the limestone was likely dry...the water that normally fills the spaces provides some support...so the limestone was under more pressure. We had a very heavy rainstorm the other day, and the heavy, rain-soaked soil was likely too much, and it all collapsed.


12 posted on 03/02/2013 11:18:24 AM PST by ken5050 ("One useless man is a shame, two are a law firm, three or more are a Congress".. John Adams)
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To: yldstrk

13 posted on 03/02/2013 11:19:50 AM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: ken5050

How do they know the man is dead? His brother survived jumping in to try to save him. Are we talking twenty, thirty, how many feet deep? Water at the bottom, flowing or still? This whole thing is alien to me, the soil here is red clay and bedrock is granite. Not too many underground caverns around. Not unheard of for a house to slide down a hill in a mudslide after a particularly heavy rain, but disappearing into a hole in the ground? Never.


14 posted on 03/02/2013 11:27:34 AM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: RegulatorCountry

When these go the ground usually collapses so he was likely buried in soil and loose rock. Yes there is water to worry about too as the water level in most areas of Florida is just a few feet down.


15 posted on 03/02/2013 11:34:30 AM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: Kaslin

fracking!


16 posted on 03/02/2013 11:39:17 AM PST by urbanpovertylawcenter (where the law and poverty collide in an urban setting and sparks fly)
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To: Kaslin

My brother in law was trapped in a sinkhole in Texas once; he was riding a horse and his horse sunk to the point they were both trapped. Trying to free himself was impossible, the ranch crew worked most of the day with shovels to dig them out, the ground kept caving in as they dug. That was a small sinkhole, so I can understand why it was impossible to get the Florida man out. My brother in law had his head and shoulders out so could breathe, said it was terrifying anyway- similar to quicksand the more he or his horse struggled the more they became trapped.


17 posted on 03/02/2013 11:46:20 AM PST by Tammy8 (~Secure the border and deport all illegals- do it now! ~ Support our Troops!~)
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To: RegulatorCountry
Authorities are not saying much, but it's possible to figure out something from what the guy's brother..the one who tried to save him, said..He jumped into the hole, but his brother was already covered. The guy himself was quickly buried all the way up to his neck, and the first deputy on the scene just managed to pull him him out. The cop is a real hero, as he easily could have gone down the hole as well.

The entire sinkhole appears to be inside the walls of the house. All homes here are built on concrete slabs, and they are just poured onto the ground..a few inches thick..no rebar is used..so the hole opened up DIRECTLY under the slab..just happened that way...it's apparently almost the size of half the house..without the slab on top..they'd likely have noticed the ground collapsing..but suddenly the slab was just overstressed, and concrete will just fracture..often crumble, and everything went into the hole, and a lot came down on top of him..if the bed had been in a different spot, he might well have survived, been able to climb out..

FYI..here's a link to a very good article about sinkholes..with some amazing pics. There are also several good links within that article..

18 posted on 03/02/2013 12:09:10 PM PST by ken5050 ("One useless man is a shame, two are a law firm, three or more are a Congress".. John Adams)
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To: ken5050; All
FYI..local cable news station Bay News 9 has very coverage, including video clips and LIVE broadcast updates fro the scene.
19 posted on 03/02/2013 12:16:44 PM PST by ken5050 ("One useless man is a shame, two are a law firm, three or more are a Congress".. John Adams)
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To: Kaslin
Jeremy Bush said someone came out to the home a couple of months ago to check for sinkholes and other things, apparently for insurance purposes.

"He said there was nothing wrong with the house. Nothing. And a couple of months later, my brother dies. In a sinkhole," Bush said.

Just another phony inspection scam. Somebody takes a one day class and gets a phony inspector certificate. Then hires himself out to insurance companies to certify homes for insurance purposes.

I walk around your house with a metal rod and stick in the ground every few feet. The rod meets resistance to penetrating the ground. Presto your house is certified to be safe from sink holes.

Now if the guy had ground penetrating radar I might think he had a chance of predicting a problem. But not just walking around the house.

20 posted on 03/02/2013 12:20:53 PM PST by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
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