[kstew43]

anyone know if there has ever been any sink holes or sink hole activity in the historic side of the villages?

[kansasr]

According to the Florida Department of Environment, there have been 3: 2 in Silver Lake and 1 in Orange Blossom.

[kstew43]

i wouldn't of thought that many due to the fact that the area hasn't been developed much in 20 or so years. thanks for the answer.

[e-flyer]

It looks like there was/is a big one with trees growing out of it in the field behind the air gun range. People walk their dogs in the field all the time. I've heard it's on property not owned by TV off Rio Grande.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by kstew43

i wouldn't of thought that many due to the fact that the area hasn't been developed much in 20 or so years. thanks for the answer.

Sink holes happen all over the west central parts of Florida in fields and under houses. In inhabited and uninhabited areas.


Below information googled;


WHY ARE THERE SINKHOLES IN FLORIDA?

Florida's peninsula is made up of porous carbonate rocks such as limestone that store and help move groundwater. Dirt, sand and clay sit on top of the carbonate rock. Over time, these rocks can dissolve from an acid created from oxygen in water, creating a void underneath the limestone roof. When the dirt, clay or sand gets too heavy for the limestone roof, it can collapse and form a sinkhole. Sinkholes are caused naturally but they can be triggered by outside events.

WHAT TRIGGERS SINKHOLES?

Although sinkholes are formed naturally, they can be triggered by heavy rainfall, drought followed by heavy rainfall, tropical storms and human activity. The most common actions by humans that cause sinkholes are heavy pumping of groundwater to spray on oranges and strawberries during freezes to keep them from being damaged, well drilling, excavating, creating landfills, leaking broken water lines and pounding or blasting from construction.

WHERE ARE SINKHOLES MOST COMMON IN FLORIDA?

Three counties in the Tampa region are known as "sinkhole alley." Two-thirds of the sinkhole damage claims reported to the state Office of Insurance Regulation from 2006 to 2010 came from Hernando, Hillsborough and Pasco counties. Sinkholes are less common in South Florida, home to the state's two most populous counties: Broward and Miami-Dade.

HOW MANY SINKHOLES OCCUR IN FLORIDA?

The state Office of Insurance Regulation says reported claims from sinkholes have risen in recent years. More than 2,300 claims were reported in Florida in 2006 but that figure jumped to almost 6,700 claims in 2010. There is no geological explanation for the rise and state insurance officials believe many claims are questionable. There must be structural damage to a home for a policyholder to claim a loss from a sinkhole, but insurance officials say claims are often paid without that proof.

HOW MUCH DAMAGE DO SINKHOLES DO?

The state Office of Insurance Regulation says sinkhole claims in Florida cost insurers $1.4 billion from 2006 to 2010.

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by kstew43

anyone know if there has ever been any sink holes or sink hole activity in the historic side of the villages?

To put our own mind to rest, as there is power, as well as peace of mind, in knowledge, was amazed to see how much info is out there, along with color coded maps. Some of the government ones, which were numerous, could not be copied......but very interesting to read nonetheless. Some websites have great "underground graphs/charts" showing just how a sinkhole forms beneath a home, etc.

http://whyfiles.org/2013/sinkholes-when-the-ground-collapses/

When the ground collapses. Graphs of what happens down below.

Color coded areas of which counties have more events....

The blue areas have most risk. You can enlarge that map to see the counties' risk factor. Lake County and Marion County (parts of it) have sinkhole potential that could develop abruptly. Sumter County seems to have less than the other two.

FOR THESE COLOR CODED MAPS of Florida keep scrolling down on above link.

************************************************** **********************
According to University of Florida, the state has more sinkholes than any other state.

URBAN SPRAWL * NEW WEATHER PATTERNS

One year ago, February 2013, by Associated Press, U.S.A. TODAY Newspaper

As workers piled the last mounds of gravel on the sinkhole that engulfed a Florida man, geologists and experts say they expect to see more sinkhole sightings throughout the state in the coming years.

Urban sprawl, well-water drilling and fluctuating weather patterns all lead to sinkhole collapses and could bring more of the phenomenon to populated areas, said Jonathan Arthur, Florida's state geologist.

"As our footprint on the land increases, the likelihood we'll encounter sinkholes will increase," Arthur said. "The activity we engage in that affects the subsurface land and water can trigger sinkholes as well."

Sinkhole claims jumped from 2,360 in 2006 to 6,694 in 2010, the last year such data was collected, at a cost of $1.4 billion, according to a 2010 report by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

However, a Florida law passed in 2011 has made it more difficult to compel insurance companies to pay for expensive subsurface testing for sinkholes, drastically decreasing the number of claims — and testing, said Anthony Randazzo, a former University of Florida geology professor and current president of GeoHazard, a company that specializes in evaluating sinkholes.

"We've seen a big downturn in insurance-related claims at our business," he said.

The sinkhole that opened under a home in Seffner, Fla., about 15 miles east of Tampa, was extremely rare in that it resulted in loss of life, Arthur said. There have been only two other deaths ever in the state related to sinkholes, he said.

At about 11 p.m. Feb. 28, Jeff Bush, 37, was in his bedroom in the one-story home on Faithview Drive when a 20-foot-wide sinkhole yawned directly under him, taking him, his bed and the rest of his bedroom furniture, according to Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.

His brother jumped into the hole to save him but had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy. Five other residents, including a small child, made it out of the home unharmed. Two adjoining houses — one on either side of Bush's — were also evacuated.

Rescue workers called off the search for Bush's body over the weekend when the area around the hole became too unstable and a backhoe demolished the home earlier this week. On Tuesday, workers removed the home's concrete foundation and dumped the last of four truckloads of gravel to fill the hole, said Willie Puz, a Hillsborough County spokesman. Code enforcement officers were still trying to determine if the two neighboring homes would also be demolished, he said.

Another sinkhole was reported on Monday about 2 miles away, Puz said. That hole, located between the yards of two homes, was about 12 feet around and not directly endangering any home, he said.

According to CoreLogic, an Irvine, Calif.-based firm that analyzes sinkhole data, there are more than 15,000 verified sinkholes in Florida, including 23 sinkholes within a mile of the one that took Bush. There are more sinkholes in Florida than any other state, according to the firm.

Sometimes sinkholes are triggered by natural weather patterns. When Tropical Storm Debbie dumped 20 inches of rain on drought-stricken Florida last year, more than 200 sinkholes were reported across the state within a few days, Arthur said. The sudden dry-to-wet fluctuation caused underground limestone caverns to collapse, triggering the sinkholes, he said.

Other times, workers drilling a water well or new homes built atop of weak limestone formations can cause sinkholes, Randazzo said. As Florida's population continues to grow, so will the risk of sinkholes, he said.

In 2005, Randazzo surveyed a home about a half-mile from the site of last week's deadly incident on behalf of an insurance company. After careful subsurface testing, a weak underground limestone cavern was detected and 500 cubic yards of grout was trucked in to fill it up, saving the home from a sinkhole collapse, he said.

But such specialized testing is becoming increasingly rare in the wake of the 2011 law. Florida lawmakers passed the law in response to insurers' claims that too many of the sinkhole claims were frivolous and the tests expensive, Randazzo said. But the law may have swung too far in the other direction, he said.

Jeremy Bush, the victim's brother who tried saving him from the sinkhole, has said that someone came to the home a few months before the incident to check for sinkholes but told the family there was nothing to worry about.

"It's a real tough situation now that everyone's facing," Randazzo said.

Contributing: Associated Press U.S.A. TODAY NEWSPAPER









　

[skyguy79]

Here is an image I captured that shows sinkhole activities - dated 2008. Obviously there have been more since this was prepared, but it was the best I could find without doing extensive searching to find one that was as clear and newer.

[OldManTime]

Originally Posted by kstew43

anyone know if there has ever been any sink holes or sink hole activity in the historic side of the villages?

None that I know of, I have been here for 14 years. This side construction didn't move so much dirt as the other side.

[janmcn]

There was a lady quoted in one of the articles about the recent sinkhole who has lived on the historic side for 23 years and said there has been no sinkholes in all that time. "No sinkholes and no tornados" she said. "Harold's looking out for us" she added.

The article was in The Villages on-line news, unable to post link.

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by skyguy79

Here is an image I captured that shows sinkhole activities - dated 2008. Obviously there have been more since this was prepared, but it was the best I could find without doing extensive searching to find one that was as clear and newer.

That's a good one Skyguy......

Here are 3 more from 2008....: Lake, Marion, Sumter Counties....


http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/maps/pages/11100/f11137/f11137.htm

Sinkholes of Lake County, Florida as of 2008


　
http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/maps/pages/11100/f11143/f11143.htm

Sinkholes of Marion County, Florida as of 2008


http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/maps/pages/11100/f11158/f11158.htm

Sinkholes of Sumter County, Florida as of 2008










　


　


　

[gerryann]

Originally Posted by e-flyer

It looks like there was/is a big one with trees growing out of it in the field behind the air gun range. People walk their dogs in the field all the time. I've heard it's on property not owned by TV off Rio Grande.

Does anyone have any info as to the future of this property? I see that it is subdivided and lots are being sold. Two are on Zillow.