There is no greater horror in this life than the concept of the earth itself opening up its terrible maw and devouring you, your house, and your brand new speedboat. An enormous sinkhole in Florida has claimed seven homes, becoming the local county’s largest sinkhole in 30 years.
Florida – a hellish tract of land which humankind spits in the face of God by inhabiting – is pretty well known for its frequent sinkholes, but this is a biggun. Two homes were destroyed when the ground gave way in the appropriately titled Land O’Lakes on July 14, but the hole has now dramatically expanded, resulting in five more homes being condemned.
The hole spans nearly 80 metres at its widest point, and it is expected that the cleanup will take months. Just cop a geez at these photos.
.@WFLA Filling in the Sinkhole… work continues on removing debris and filling in the large sinkhole in Land O Lakes #sinkhole pic.twitter.com/1BAJRLv22i
— Eagle 8 WFLA (@8_plamison) August 7, 2017
Florida is particularly susceptible to sinkholes because it is built on limestone. The natural acids in rainwater are like a hot knife through butter when it comes to limestone, and cracks will develop over centuries and millennia until the whole thing just collapses. Land O’ Lakes is located in a part of central Florida nicknamed Sinkhole Alley, which just seems like a terrible place to build a house if you ask me.
Here’s a little nightmare fuel for you, too: in 2013, a sinkhole swallowed a 36-year-old man in Seffner, a town east of Tampa. His body was never found thanks to how quickly it buried him and the instability of the earth. Ooft. Not keen on that, hey.
