UPDATE: Sinkhole swallows Seffner man; feared dead

heraldtribune.com ^ | March 1, 2013 | AP

[BlatherNaut]

BRANDON - A man was missing and feared dead early Friday after a large sinkhole opened under the bedroom of a Seffner house and his brother says the man screamed for help before he disappeared.

[UCANSEE2]

When posting an article, one should assume that others need some of the essential details that YOU might take for granted.

Such as..... Seffner is a town near TAMPA, FLORIDA.

Thanks for posting the article. Makes me wonder what would go through one’s mind during such an incident.

[cyn]

Oh, poor guy. The hazards of FL extend beyond hurricanes, alligators, pythons, and giant snails.

"Damico said that at the surface, she estimates the sinkhole is about 30 feet across but officials say the sinkhole spreads to about 100 feet across below the surface. Authorities were waiting for an engineering crew to bring monitoring equipment to determine the borders of the sinkhole, she said.

No info about the depth...

I'm thinking about the sinkhole at UF's Reitz Union ("duckpond"). Odd thing is, they knew the sinkhole was there when Reitz was planned.

[null and void]

I don’t think that link means what you think it means...

[cyn]

// Informal meetings to consider a new student union began in 1948. In 1952, the New Union Planning Committee was created. After a brief hiatus, the committee was recreated in 1956 and chose a site by a campus sinkhole for the location of the new union. In 1962, the Florida Development Commission appropriated money to begin designs and construction. Groundbreaking occurred in 1964 and the new student union was completed in 1967. It was named in honor of J. Wayne Reitz, the university's fifth president. //

[null and void]

Hmmm. I’m gonna plead testosterone blindness on this one.

[cyn]

Here’s more info: http://www.facilities.ufl.edu/planning/calm/plans/greenpond_NZ/green_pond.pdf

with photos showing view from the student union and “wilderness” views.

I’ll let more Gators chime in; work had to be done (biting my tongue) but that was after my time.

[shove_it]

Remember this one?

http://sinkholereport.com/winter-park-sinkhole-swallows-porsche-dealership

[null and void]

Oooo! Thanks!

[null and void]

Oooo! Thanks! (still blind, responded to shove-it’s post thinking it was you, testosterone and no caffeine, yeah, that’s the ticket...)

[null and void]

Although yours was pretty kewl too...

[cyn]

Haha, maybe that's why they built ... I sure hope some later Gators come by here, I cannot find what I'm looking for re: what it takes to fill in/stabilize a sinkhole... like any info vanished into a dark hole itself!

Here's more info, scroll down to "caves":

UF Myths and Legends: Did you know the stadium was built in a sinkhole??

Campus is gutted with sinkholes, he said. The Green Pond at the Reitz Union is one, and Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is built on another.

"In 1930, when they were looking for a place to put the stadium, they said, ?Hey, that's a nice bowl,'" Van Ness said. "That's why all the lower seats are at ground level."

Van Ness said a freshwater spring is under the east stands of The Swamp. It was channeled into a nearby creek on campus. It's still flowing today, he added.

So, when we say "The Swamp", we really MEAN "the swamp"!

[cyn]

Oh, yeah, that's a good one, now known as Lake Rose! Final size was 350' by ~ 80' deep. Then, and NOW.

Goes to show the hardship facing the Seffner neighborhood and especially the family of that poor man. What a precipitous event, literally, sinking sand. Remembering warnings...

[cyn]

Depth:

[shove_it]

I don’t remember anyone loosing their life in a Florida sinkhole before. But I sure mourned all those crumpled Porches presumably now at the bottom of Lake Rose.

[COBOL2Java]

That's a deep one! But not as deep as this!

[cyn]

Here's more info -- see #4. I'd read 5, not 3 cars, though.

OK, here's a portion, because it is SO crazy wild:

"I also believe police left on site to guard the sinkhole during the day/night it was opening and expanding, reported that water levels rose in the sink, then multiple times, the sink "flushed" itself just like a giant toilet. Trees and things would plug up the hole, then manage to pass through and all the accumulated water went underground... [what an image!!!!!]

Another one I always enjoyed involved a sinkhole in a road, which swallowed a car. A cop was behind the car and suddenly noticed the lights disappeared (it was at night). He then found the car sitting in a sinkhole. I believe everyone was fine but I could be wrong. Anyways, as they are getting the person out and keeping traffic stopped, someone notices pine trees across the road getting shorter and shorter. Much larger sinkhole was opening over there, andit was like a huge circle sunk 20-40 feet (I forget the exact depth)."

[cyn]

wow, fits! maybe all those sad sick sacrifices will stabilize the yawning chasm ... at some point, PLEASE LORD.

[cyn]

that is of sinkhole in Guatemala, btw; thought to extend down maybe 300’.

[shove_it]

Here’s an update with a link to vid interview of brother who tried to rescue his brother from the sinkhole under the house:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/03/01/173225027/sinkhole-swallows-sleeping-man-in-florida