Florida man swallowed by sink hole...
 

A sinkhole that swallowed a man in Florida when it opened up in his bedroom is "seriously unstable" and likely to grow, officials have warned.

No one is being allowed inside the home where Jeff Bush is thought to have died, because authorities fear more lives could be lost.

Hillsborough County administrator Mike Merrill described the hole as "seriously unstable" after engineers said the soil around the house was very soft and could suffer another collapse.

He said: "This is no ordinary sinkhole. This is a chasm."

Five other people were at the home when the bedroom floor began to fall through into the 15m-deep hole on Friday, but no one else was injured.

Hillsborough County Fire Rescue officials said the 37-year-old missing man was now presumed to have died.

The victim's brother, Jeremy Bush, said he jumped into the hole but could not see his brother and had to be rescued by a sheriff's deputy who pulled him to safety as the ground crumbled around him.

"The floor was still giving in and the dirt was still going down, but I didn't care. I wanted to save my brother," he said.

"But I just couldn't do nothing. I could swear I heard him hollering my name to help him.

"All I could see was the cable wire running from the TV going down into the hole. I saw a corner of the bed and a corner of the box spring and the frame of the bed."

Florida is highly prone to sinkholes because of underground limestone, a porous rock that easily erodes in water - leading to collapse.

Sinkholes are so common in Florida that state law requires home insurers provide coverage against the danger.

Mr Bush said someone visited 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," he said.

I read about this before, can't believe they gave up on him so easily and are just presuming he is dead and his brother said he could hear him down there? you'd think they'd have the equipment in the year 2013 to at least get down a 100ft hole

..the search has been called off...poor guy..and so horrendous for his family who'll be haunted by the sound of his voice calling for help, for probably all of their lives....

A sinkhole that swallowed a man in Florida when it opened up in his bedroom is "seriously unstable" and likely to grow, officials have warned.

No one is being allowed inside the home where Jeff Bush is thought to have died, because authorities fear more lives could be lost.

Hillsborough County administrator Mike Merrill described the hole as "seriously unstable" after engineers said the soil around the house was very soft and could suffer another collapse.

He said: "This is no ordinary sinkhole. This is a chasm."

Five other people were at the home when the bedroom floor began to fall through into the 15m-deep hole on Friday, but no one else was injured.

Hillsborough County Fire Rescue officials said the 37-year-old missing man was now presumed to have died.

The victim's brother, Jeremy Bush, said he jumped into the hole but could not see his brother and had to be rescued by a sheriff's deputy who pulled him to safety as the ground crumbled around him

"The floor was still giving in and the dirt was still going down, but I didn't care. I wanted to save my brother," he said.

"But I just couldn't do nothing. I could swear I heard him hollering my name to help him.

"All I could see was the cable wire running from the TV going down into the hole. I saw a corner of the bed and a corner of the box spring and the frame of the bed."

Florida is highly prone to sinkholes because of underground limestone, a porous rock that easily erodes in water - leading to collapse.

Sinkholes are so common in Florida that state law requires home insurers provide coverage against the danger.

Mr Bush said someone visited 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," he said

Crikey

Poor guy, the brother was lucky to get out too by the sound of it.

Those sinkholes are scary as hell.

Every home in the area
has been moved out.

Limestone
water over the years changes it

House To Be Demolished

http://news.sky.com/story/1059405/si...-be-demolished

Agreed, just awful

That poor man, and how must his brother be feeling knowing that he just couldn't save him :(

Even if this is a rather stupid question, I am going to ask it anyway. I don't know much about sink holes, but could they happen anywhere say in that area in particular? Could someone be walking along outside, or even driving a car there and not be safe from one, even with the concrete? if the houses there are susceptible, are the roads also then? If so, then that is very scary, and surely people need to be keep away from that whole area.

Yes on Ch4 News yesterday
they showed Florida and a Road that became Sink Holed.

They are staying away from that area now.
Building on limestone is the problem
after years of water it changes it.


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...x-WOAHdubs.jpg
The Devil's Hole sinkhole near Hawthorne, Florida, USA


[Sinkholes are common where the rock below
the land surface is limestone or other
carbonate rock, salt beds, or rocks
that can naturally be dissolved
by circulating ground water.]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinkhole

what is a sinkhole? :shocked:

Thanks Arista. It must be very scary for those still living in and around that area then.