Sinkhole Forces Tarpon Springs Evacs

 

 

TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) _ Authorities are evacuating a mobile home park along Florida’s Gulf Coast after a 60-foot-wide, 35-foot-deep hole opened in the ground.

About 20 residents from six homes at the Tarpon Springs park were taken to a nearby location as a precaution on Wednesday.

The Tampa Bay Times reports that authorities were investigating if a water line break is responsible or if the deep hole is a naturally occurring sinkhole.

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

A Tarpon Springs police spokesman says an existing sinkhole opened up in the same location six weeks ago.

In March 2013, a man in nearby Seffner disappeared when a sinkhole opened up under his bedroom.

His body was never recovered.