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Sinkhole swallows Hernando home

Reported by: Keith Baker

HERNANDO COUNTY, FL — A large sinkhole swallowed up a Spring Hill home late Wednesday.  Local officials say it’s one of the biggest sinkholes they’ve seen.

Damage to the house and its contents at 2133 block of Orchard Park Drive is put at $250,000.

Joni Bates was able to get out of the one story concrete block structure safely with her puppies.  She says insurance should cover the damage.  “They just renewed it, believe it or not.  So, even though I had a sinkhole, I’m very, very fortunate and I thank God,” she said.

The local Red Cross chapter is helping Joni find temporary shelter and clothing.

Florida has more sinkholes than any other state.  They originate beneath the surface when groundwater moves through the limestone and erodes large cavities in the bedrock. When the water table drops, a sinkhole can form.

In this case, it was under Joni Bates’ house. 

“I’ve been here 22 years, part of my life is gone.  My boys grew up in this house”,  she said.

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Sinkhole still collapsing as merchants point fingers

PennDOT making effort to protect Route 65

Thursday, May 07, 2009

By Brian David, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The state Department of Transportation is taking steps to protect Route 65 from being devoured by an East Rochester sinkhole that already has claimed a restaurant and is encroaching on a Pizza Hut and GetGo station.

Lane restrictions were posted this week on Route 65 so that experts from Gannett Fleming Engineers could assess the stability of the road and determine the best way to shore it up.

“We are surveying the roadway to make sure it’s not moving,” PennDOT District 11 spokesman Jim Struzzi said.

The sinkhole, which started two years ago as a small hole in the parking lot of the Evergreen Restaurant, is now 40 feet across and 60 feet deep.

It forced the demolition of the Evergreen Restaurant in 2007 and is now encroaching the Pizza Hut parking lot.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Environmental Protection is ramping up the pressure to get the sinkhole repaired, along with the failed drain system that caused it. Late last month, it filed a petition asking the court to enforce a repair order issued to seven property owners a year ago.

Beyond giving emergency workers access to their properties, none of the property owners have taken substantive steps toward repair, though Giant Eagle, Inc., is doing work to divert its storm water.

DEP spokesperson Helen Humphries singled out Evergreen owners Argyrios and Stella Apostolis, saying they “have not yet taken appropriate action.”

But the Apostolises, who saw their undermined restaurant demolished in Jan. 2008, have sued several other property owners as well as East Rochester, saying that an improper tap into a drain on their property and the fact it was carrying the borough’s storm water were key in the failure, and that they were not responsible for maintaining it.

According to that lawsuit, the SuperAmerica gas station — the precursor to the GetGo — was having drainage problems in 1996, and got East Rochester’s permission to tap into a vertical pipe beneath the Evergreen’s parking lot.

The suit says the borough pressured the Apostolises into agreeing, with the understanding that the gas station would keep insurance on the line and do maintenance.

The suit says the pipe was not designed for constant flow of water, which contributed to its failure. It also says the lines carried runoff from much of East Rochester, and that the SuperAmerica and GetGo stations did not get insurance or maintain the line.

“I’m still paying the loan on that hole,” Mr. Apostolis said. “I want my money back, my property back.”

His is not the only lawsuit.

The Pizza Hut restaurant parking lot is slowly being consumed, and its owner, Tri-L Pizza Huts Inc., recently sued the Apostolises, claiming that since the sinkhole started on their property it is their responsibility.

Beaver County Emergency Management Director Wes Hill said the pipe corroded, letting dirt fall down into a 12-foot culvert. The culvert, designed to carry runoff water along with three natural waterways down to the Ohio River, began to back up.

Eventually the whole system collapsed. With water flowing into the hole, the erosion has continued.

Meanwhile, the water that is supposed to go through the culvert underneath Route 65 and the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks is instead working its way through the earth beneath the highway, emerging on the downhill side and partially flooding the tracks.

Having even a small amount of water undercutting the roadway “is certainly a serious situation,” Mr. Struzzi said.

Mr. Struzzi previously said that the department would likely use gabian blankets — wire boxes filled with stone — to stop erosion beneath the roadway and stabilize its base, but said this week that the solution would depend on Gannett Fleming’s findings.

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Sinkhole swallows home in Spring Hill

By Joel Anderson, Times Staff Writer 
In Print: Thursday, May 7, 2009

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Spring Hill Fire Rescue’s Kevin Carroll, center, talks to Jim Bates, left, and Joan Bates, sitting, about their home with neighbors Natasha Williams and Hortense Chong. The home is roped off and the Bateses were warned against going inside.
	[DAVE CASEY | Special to the Tim

SPRING HILL

Over the past few months, Jim and Joan Bates have heard creaks echo throughout their home and have seen cracks form in the walls and the floors. It gave them a sinking feeling.

So the couple hired an engineer and a local contractor who pledged to fix any “sinkhole activity” that would threaten to swallow their 23-year-old home.

They were a little too late.

A nearly 15-foot-deep sinkhole opened under the Bates’ home at 2133 Orchard Park on Wednesday afternoon, almost completely devouring the garage and the front of the sprawling, ranch-style house.

Though that area of Hernando County is known for some of the heaviest sinkhole activity in west-central Florida, neighbors and rescue crews said it was one of the largest and deepest — and most destructive — sinkholes they had seen.

At the time the gaping hole formed, a crew from Geo-Logical, Inc. of Port Richey was working to repair holes under the 2,100-square-foot home. “Hey, it happens,” Jim Bates, 51, said. “We’re just thankful that no one was inside the home or got hurt.”

In fact, Bates was almost jovial about the ordeal. He said the house is worth less than they paid and that the insurance money they will recoup will be more than the house is worth.

“It’s a blessing in disguise,” he said. “We’ve got a home with four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a sunken garage.”

Jim works for the Pasco County school district; Joan is retired. They were at a doctor’s appointment when their home was swallowed, but their three dogs — Mandy, Mindy and Rudy — were inside. The dogs were freed by the construction crew.

The couple returned to find that their front yard had turned into a natural disaster, 23 years to the day Joan Bates, 57, moved into the home with her young family.

Upon seeing the partially collapsed house, she sat on the ground and teared up.

Several neighbors came by to offer their sympathies, gawk at the damage and take pictures.

“Everyone has been having sinkhole activity around here,” said Brett Levy, who lives across the street. “But this is horrible.”

“It’s unbelievable,” said Kevin Carroll, a district chief with Spring Hill Fire Rescue. “This is pretty close to one of the worst. And I get called on these regularly.”

Over the years, homeowners in Hernando and Pasco counties have experienced steep insurance spikes because of sinkholes. Geologists have said they think the sinkholes are appearing because limestone bedrock in the area is close to the surface, making it more likely to break apart. The drought adds to the problem as groundwater levels decrease.

Joan Bates moved into the home in 1986 but the cracks and noises from the shifting ground recently made it hard to feel safe.

Hopeful that they could fix the problem, the couple called on Geo-Logical to fix the holes through a process called “compaction grouting.” Essentially, the crew will drill holes around the home and pump them full of concrete to fill the fissures.

Jim Bates said the crew started working at the home last week. But sometime Wednesday afternoon, Bates said the crew noticed a hole forming under the garage.

“It just opened bigger and bigger,” Bates said.

Within minutes, the home was consumed. As of Wednesday night, Carroll said the house still seemed to be sinking. He said there was nothing to do but rope off the site.

Carroll wouldn’t allow his firefighters to go inside and the Bateses have been advised to stay out, too. The couple was looking for a place to stay Wednesday night that would allow their dogs.

Jim Bates said insurance would cover the damages. Carroll contacted Red Cross and Publix to make sure the couple could renew their prescriptions and get some items they might need for the next few days.

Inside the home were nearly all of the couple’s possessions. In particular, Jim Bates wanted to salvage his “toys” — two water scooters and a motorcycle — from the garage. “We’ll probably move back to this area,” Bates said. “Florida is still a great place — sinkholes or not.”

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Large sinkhole develops in an Elba housing subdivision
Posted: 5:06 PM May 6, 2009 Last Updated: 5:08 PM May 6, 2009
Recent heavy rains may be responsible for the appearance of a sinkhole in the western Wiregrass. Crews are working to fill in the dirt on Pine Circle. It’s located in the Brookdale subdivision of Elba. The contractor will replace the manhole. It’s hoped that this will solve the problem. With Coffee County covered under the FEMA disaster declaration, local officials hope the federal dollars will reimburse them for the repairs which will run into the tens of thousands of dollars. Homeowners say it’s an inconvenience, but at least no one has been hurt. It’s hoped that the work on filling in the Elba sinkhole will be completed within the week.

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UPDATE: Sinkhole Threatening Family’s Home

Reported by: Lauren Trager, KARK 4 News

We have more information on a giant sinkhole in the front yard of a Little Rock home that we first told you about Sunday. It’s threatening to swallow the home.

The hole is about 20 feet long, 15 feet wide and 10 feet deep. Look a little closer and you see water running through it–and the remnants of the concrete box that used to hold the water inside.

Early Sunday morning Homer and Maxine Boose say they heard what sounded like a muffled bomb going off and later learned their yard had caved in.

Today, city workers evaluated the sink hole, to decide what to do about this private drainage ditch– put in long before the city regulated where and how you could build-possibly 60 or 70 years old.

The Booses say they’re worried about the safety of their home and are considering moving.

“I really don’t want to live here like this. I don’t know what to do and I don’t know what to say because I really don’t want to live here like this,” said Maxine Boose.

The city says they are still considering options for repairing the sink hole—but say because it isn’t a city-owned drainage system, they aren’t totally responsible and likely will not pay to move the Booses to another home.

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Rain opens up two Springfield sinkholes By: KY3 News

SPRINGFIELD — There are a couple new holes in the ground on Springfield’s northwest side.

All this rain caused two sinkholes to open up along west Division in front of Colorgraphic Printing and just across the street Willard South Elementary.

Greene County’s geologist discovered it’s actually an old sinkhole that has re-opened.

“There’s old foundation material and some remnants of farm machinery down there that have rusted out,” Greene County Commissioner, Dave Coonrod said. “(Decades ago) when you farmed, you had a big hole form-up, people would fill it in. Today, that’s not the thing to do.”

It took down a power pole when the ground gave way, and city utilities worked last night to get that repaired.

MoDOT will further examine the sinkhole Monday but says it doesn’t appear to cause any problems for the road.

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Rains Create Huge Sink Hole

Reported by: Betsey Martin, KARK 4-News

Weekend storms have caused major problems for an elderly Little Rockcouple.

Massive rains created a huge sink hole Sunday morning after a storm drain collapsed.

The family that lives there actually heard it happen.

They say they were so alarmed by the noise, they thought lightning had struck their home.

“Like a boom, just kind of shook the ground. It happened before in between the houses and they fixed that, but they didn’t think this was going to happen,” explained homeowner Homer Boose.

City crews were busy working on the problem Sunday morning.

But now the couple worries the hole which runs under their home could get even bigger and….cause their home to collapse.

The storm drain is more than 50 years old.

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Stinks for them, but it seems like they were the ones who created the sinkhole in the first place.

Carlsbad Company Suffers Loss Over Safety

Company’s Business Down 45 Percent After Relocation

POSTED: 6:47 pm MDT May 2, 2009
UPDATED: 12:03 pm MDT May 4, 2009

Carlsbad, N.M. – The oil industry is big business in southeastern New Mexico.

 

A Carlsbad company is down nearly 45 percent from 2008 after being asked to relocate by a government agency because of safety issues. 

An entire business is being boxed and relocated. 

I&W is an oil services company in Carlsbad for nearly 15 years. The company has helped supply the oil industry. 

Their bread and butter has been brine water, distributing at one point 30,000 barrels a month. 

“We pump fresh water into the ground into salt formations and then pump it out and make brine water,” said Lowell Irby, I&W owner. 

It’s commonly used in oil drilling, but making brine underground creates a cavity underneath the site. 

According to the oil conservation division, the site located at the intersection of Highway 62/180 and 285 could collapse into a sinkhole at anytime, taking the business and possibly part of the highway with it. 

They said the age, size and shape of the cavity is similar to the brine wells that collapsed last year in northern Eddy County. 

“It’s estimated that it could be as much as over a 100 feet across up to about 600 feet deep,” said Joel Amwine, Eddy County emergency manager. 

Because of a threat to workers and surrounding infrastructure, division leaders asked the company to make a common sense decision and relocate. 

The company said safety is a priority and have voluntarily followed every state instruction but I&W leaders said it’s a decision that has cost them nearly 45 percent in 2009. 

“I think it’s kind of unfair that they require us to move without someway to compensate us for the move,” Irby said. 

Division leaders said if I&W didn’t voluntarily move, they would’ve taken legal action. 

The state says even though they can’t predict a collapse, they are working with Eddy County emergency services and homeland security to prepare for the possible situation. 

I&W leaders said they have passed every inspection by the state and this is the first they’ve heard of a sinkhole issue. 

They said they don’t believe anything will happen to the site.

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Well, this certainly sucks.

Growing Sinkhole Causes Bowling Alley To Collapse

WHO-TV Staff Writer

May 2, 2009

 

Crews worked late into the night Saturday to stabilize the wreckage so residents above the business could gather their belongings (WHO-TV)

 

Related links

• Bowling Alley Collapses Into Sinkhole Video

Hundreds of people in Perry gathered Saturday night to watch part of a town landmark crumble to the ground. The Perry Bowl is known for its bowling and burgers, but witnesses say a sinkhole caused part of the building to crumble around 7:00 Saturday.

Customers and a woman who lives in an apartment above the bowling alley were able to escape. Crews started knocking down part of the damaged structure in hopes they can stabilize what’s left. That could give residents time to clear out property before crews knock down the rest of the structure.

Perry officials say no one was injured in the incident.

Check back with Channel 13 News for more information as it becomes available.

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Heavy rains leaves behind large sink hole at Falconhead

FALCONHEAD, OK — We’re learning more about a large sinkhole that was left behind by the heavy rains Wednesday in the resort community of Falconhead, Oklahoma. Shelby Levins has more.  Residents describe Falconhead as a quiet community, but after Wednesday’s severe thunderstorms many residents are left pushing flood water out of their homes, and everyone is being told to boil their water. The sun may be out, but it’s not a good day for golf at Falconhead. Flooding has turned the greens into islands, and rising water has seeped into people’s homes. “It rained so hard so hard it didn’t run off fast enough. If you had a little place anywhere it ran in. It ran into the garage and made a big mess,” Falconhead resident Bea Hawthorone says. Bea Hawthorone has called Falconhead home for almost 30 years. She used to regularly play golf, but now she’s working to dry out her garage. Maintenance crews are also out working to repair a washed out street and a broken main water line. Only a creek bed and a large sink hole remains where Diamondhead Place Road used to run. The walls are at least 20 feet high, and the sink hole is at least 30 feet wide. “It was more rain that anyone expected at one time. It just took the road out and took the water line out with it. It shut down out water tower. Luckily we have more water wells, so we put another water well on line,” says Junior Anderson, the maintenance superintendent for Falconhead. Anderson says although the community is now running off another well, water could still be contaminated by a broken pipe. “Still, boil your water before you cook or if you drink it, either way, boil your water.” Anderson and his crew brought in a track hoe to clean out the sink hole. That’s the first step. Then they can fill the huge hole and get the water line hooked up again. Hawthorne says she’s not worried though and is actually thankful for the much needed rain. “Our course is beautiful. It’ll be OK in a few days. It’ll dry out,” she says. Junior Anderson tells us he expects the boil order to be in place until next week as a precaution. As for the sink hole and road repairs, he says he hopes to have it all refilled and back open by this time next week.