Florida Man Swallowed By Sinkhole Feared Dead

A man feared dead after he was swallowed by a sinkhole in his suburban Tampa home in Seffner, Florida.

(Please click here for the photos)

Reuters reported that Jeff Bush, 37, was in his bedroom Thursday night when the sinkhole suddenly swallowed him and the entire bedroom into the ground.

The sinkhole was estimated 20 feet across and 20 feet deep.

It caused the home’s concrete floor to cave in around 11 p.m. Thursday.

Fortunately five other people in the house were unharmed.

Bush’s brother Jeremy Bush jumped into the hole and tried to dig to find his brother but he could not find him.

He was rescued by Douglas Duvall of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office who pulled him out from the sinkhole.

The sinkhole is slowly growing and it was feared that the entire house could eventually falls into the unstable ground.

Engineers said the house may have to be demolished, even though from the outside the house seems to be alright.

They took soil samples and ran various tests and found that the entire lot was dangerous.

Reuters reported that,”Authorities had not detected any signs of life after lowering listening devices and cameras into the hole and rescue efforts were suspended after the site was deemed too unsafe for emergency personnel to enter”.

Two adjacent houses were evacuated and officials were considering further evacuations.

“This is not your typical sinkhole,” said Hillsborough County administrator Mike Merrill.

Florida is highly prone to sinkholes because there are caverns below ground of limestone, a porous rock that easily dissolves in water.

This is a disaster.

But when it happens away from buildings and roads, it could turn out to be nice and beautiful places after a long time; please click here for ‘Photos: Amazing Sinkholes Around The World’.

Huge Sinkholes Around The World – Photos

A sinkhole is a natural depression or hole in the Earth’s surface caused by:

1. karst processes or the chemical dissolution of carbonated rocks or salt beds.

2. suffosion processes for example in sandstone.

Carbonated rocks such as limestone can be dissolved by water, especially acidic water.

When the carbonated rocks dissolved, there will be empty space or hole under the ground.

When there is nothing more to support the surface land, the gravity caused the surface land to suddenly collapse into the underground hole.

And that causes a sinkhole.

Suffosion processes can also cause sinkholes.

This picture will explain the suffosion processes.

Formation of a suffosion sinkhole

Sinkholes are very dangerous especially when it happens in the city under big buildings or busy highways.

In 2010, a giant sinkhole in Guatemala City caused by heavy rain from Tropical Storm Agatha swallowed at least one three-story building!

This is a disaster.

Here are photos of some sinkholes:

A sinkhole covers a street intersection in downtown Guatemala City, Wednesday, June 2, 2010. Authorities blamed heavy rains caused by tropical storm Agatha as the cause of the crater that swallowed a a three-story building but now say they will be conducting further studies to determine the cause. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

John Sparkman is dwarfed as he looks into a sinkhole near Picher, Okla., Saturday, April 6, 2008. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

A giant sinkhole that swallowed several homes is seen in Guatemala City February 23, 2007. REUTERS/Daniel LeClair

A massive, approximately 200′ x 240′, sinkhole opens up and tears apart the pavement of Soledad Mountain Road, October 3, 2007 in the Mount Soledad neighborhood of La Jolla near San Diego, California. The landslide has damaged or destroyed reportedly 6 homes and forced the evacuation of at least 20 others. (Photo by Kent Horner/Getty Images)

A Cadillac Escalade sits at the bottom of a sinkhole in Milwaukee, Wis. on Friday, July 23, 2010, still running almost 20 hours after the driver fell in. On Thursday, powerful storms pounded southeastern Wisconsin and caused widespread flooding. (AP Photo/Mark Was)

Photos – Tropical Storm Debby Drenches Northern Florida, June 25, 2012

Tropical Storm Debby sent heavy rains, high wind causing floods, sinkholes and damages in Northern Florida.

A truck takes a detour along Alligator Drive after Tropical Storm Debby washed out a section of the road in Alligator Point, Florida June 25, 2012. Tropical Storm Debby dumped heavy rain over parts of Florida on Monday as it idled in the northern Gulf of Mexico, threatening to bring flooding and tornadoes. REUTERS/Phil Sears

A truck hangs over the edge of a sinkhole that opened up in the parking lot of Hughes Relocation Services, Monday, June 25, 2012, in Salt Springs, Fla. Tropical Storm Debby raked the Tampa Bay area with high wind and heavy rain Monday in a drenching that could top 2 feet over the next few days and trigger widespread flooding. (AP Photo/The Ocala Star-Banner, Alan Youngblood)

Sean Kummerow, from Bradenton Beach, walks out to the seawall behind his flooded neighborhood to inspect damage and look for waterspouts, as a storm surge and high winds associated with Tropical Storm Debby batter Bradenton Beach, Florida, June 25, 2012. REUTERS/Brian Blanco

Mike Cook, of Bradenton, and his son Justin, 7, walk out to check out the waves on the Gulf of Mexico as storm surge and high winds associated with Tropical Storm Debby batter Bradenton Beach, Florida, June 25, 2012. REUTERS/Brian Blanco

Angela Kelly, along with her sons Ethan, 3, and Alex, 6, walk through their neighborhood inspecting the flooding as high winds and rain associated with Tropical Storm Debby continue to affect the area in St. Petersburg, Florida, June 25, 2012. REUTERS/Brian Blanco

Boats slam against a pier as a storm surge and high winds from Tropical Storm Debby batter Bradenton Beach. Reuters Photographer / Reuters

Fire line tape surrounds part of the Pass-A-Grille Marina, damaged on Sunday night by what residents describe as a tornado, as high winds and storm surge associated with Tropical Storm Debby continue to affect the area in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida, June 25, 2012. The National Hurricane Center expects Debby to make landfall on Thursday in the Florida Panhandle as a tropical storm, but warns that forecasts remain uncertain. REUTERS/Brian Blanco 

Structural damage is seen on a street in Pass-A-Grille Beach, damaged on Sunday night by what residents describe as a tornado, as high winds and storm surge associated with Tropical Storm Debby continue to affect the area in Florida, June 25, 2012. REUTERS/Brian Blanco

A large sinkhole opened between apartments at the Fore Ranch subdivision in Ocala, Fla., Monday, June 25, 2012. (AP Photo/The Ocala Star-Banner, Bruce Ackerman)

Debris covers Alligator Drive after Tropical Storm Debby washed out a section of the road in Alligator Point, Florida June 25, 2012. REUTERS/Phil Sears 

This is a disaster.

Please click below for the related post:

1. Tropical Storm Debby Heads For Florida – Photos