JC22: Still don't understand why they didn't bring in a crane, saw through the wall or roof and lower someone down to try to help/save the guy. Seems they didn't really have any urgency to get to the guy. If the area was unstable I think they could have done this from a safe area away and lowered someone down with a crane.

My understanding (could be wrong) is that he was swallowed up and sank into the wet bottom almost right away.  It isn't like he was on a solid bottom of a dry hole, he probably drowned or suffocated within a few minutes.

TommyymmoT: Those must some great building codes they have there.
The house was built on a concrete slab with no basement, and I saw no rebar in that picture.
What kind of cheap ass builder pours a slap without rebar?

The home builder killed that guy just as much as the sink hole did.

In slab on grade construction, you really only need rebar around the edges in the footings. The middle part of the slabs typically only have thin welded wire mesh for temperature and shrinkage crack control. So you might not be able to see the reinforcement in the picture.

JC22: Still don't understand why they didn't bring in a crane, saw through the wall or roof and lower someone down to try to help/save the guy. Seems they didn't really have any urgency to get to the guy. If the area was unstable I think they could have done this from a safe area away and lowered someone down with a crane.

Because he is very likely dead.  That hole/cavern was unexposed to the surface for thousands of years, if ever.  There is likely little to no oxygen down there.  He fell down, rolled into an area with too low oxygen, and passed out and suffocated shortly thereafter.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Stop over pumping the water table!

I can't imagine what the family must be going through right now. Wondering if their loved one might actually still be alive down there, but unable to communicate that to anyone........then watching as they just burry him. :::Shivers::: As someone who works for a Public Works Department, I also feel for the guys/gals who actually have to tear the home down, and fill in the hole....thus burrying the "body". That has to be an emotional task for them as well. Sad story all around.

NEDM: JC22: Still don't understand why they didn't bring in a crane, saw through the wall or roof and lower someone down to try to help/save the guy. Seems they didn't really have any urgency to get to the guy. If the area was unstable I think they could have done this from a safe area away and lowered someone down with a crane.

Because he is very likely dead.  That hole/cavern was unexposed to the surface for thousands of years, if ever.  There is likely little to no oxygen down there.  He fell down, rolled into an area with too low oxygen, and passed out and suffocated shortly thereafter.

That doesn't even account for all the crap that likely feel on him.

I thought we got "One Night in Paris" years ago

freetomato: Fart_Machine:

What the hell is that?

I think it's Kirstie Alley.

freetomato: Fart_Machine:

What the hell is that?

It's a giant worm from Tremors.

Graboid

I know it's a longshot, but it would be so awesome if this dude washed out somewhere and clawed his way through a cave and showed up filthy and pissed off at his own funeral.

did they find out how deep it was?

Tommy Moo: I know it's a longshot, but it would be so awesome if this dude washed out somewhere and clawed his way through a cave and showed up filthy and pissed off at his own funeral.

Or if he continued to sink deeper into the earth until he dropped into an alien underworld paradise like in The Abyss.

ltdanman44: did they find out how deep it was?

60 feet deep at last check. Although since the ground at that point is so fluid, it could easily be deeper than that.

TheDumbBlonde: Ah, SeffMethner.

elvindeath: Seriously ... wtf.  Certainly makes you think when it's your time, it's your time.

THIS!!! I mean the guy could have been a health nut who did everything right in life, only to die in a freak sinkhole accident.

No, no No NO NO!

[CourtneyLove.jpg]

I pulled the LiDAR for this area. Green dot is the house, red arrows are pre-existing karst features. Link

One of the problems with how they develop in this problem is how they treat sinks. You can tell the area around the house is pretty terraformed. Basically they'll backfill any small sinkholes and build over them. Larger ones are squared off and used as retention ponds.

Anyways, there's a chance this was more than sheer dumb luck - or at least dumb luck of a different kind. If the guy had a water leak under his house, it could have acted as a trigger by washing out the soil under he house and into the sinkhole.

One of the problems with how they develop in this problem area of Florida is how they treat sinks.

FTFM

The guy will walk out of a volcano some day, with an amazing story of underworld dinosaurs, mole people, and vast subterranean cities! Or he's dead. Someone call Schrodinger.

Elegy: One of the problems with how they develop in this problem area of Florida is how they treat sinks.

FTFM

So if he replaced his sink, he could've saved?  I recently replaced my kitchen sink, so I should be okay.

/kidding

This is why I don't support Fraking.

Guess_Who: ltdanman44: did they find out how deep it was?

60 feet deep at last check. Although since the ground at that point is so fluid, it could easily be deeper than that.

that poor guy. what a way to die.  i say they should at least get him out of there and give him a proper burial.

So Cowhead on the radion in Tampa was trying to get the brother of sinkhole-guy on the radio. Played a sinkhole song and took comments live. Funny. Wish I could link to the butthurt.

Sinkhole song

ltdanman44: Guess_Who: ltdanman44: did they find out how deep it was?

60 feet deep at last check. Although since the ground at that point is so fluid, it could easily be deeper than that.

that poor guy. what a way to die.  i say they should at least get him out of there and give him a proper burial.

They aren't.

He might be part of the water table soon. The locals might soon be drinking him like some kind of underground Horatio Nelson.

Anal Tobacco Furnace: djh0101010: Full page popup ad and 11 page article with a paragraph each? Fark that. Why do so many sites do Mobile totally wrong?

There are many reasons. A large reason is because it is a very new platform and developers are still in training mode.

Sure, couldn't be the fact that with 10 more pages per article you get 10x more advertising revenue. It's because they are newbies. Gotcha.

TommyymmoT: Those must some great building codes they have there.
The house was built on a concrete slab with no basement, and I saw no rebar in that picture.
What kind of cheap ass builder pours a slap without rebar?

The home builder killed that guy just as much as the sink hole did.

Florida. No basements. And yeah, mostly no rebar in the foundation.

Begs the question, if Florida sinks into a massive sinkhole, will anyone miss it?

Guess_Who: Confabulat: TommyymmoT: The house was built on a concrete slab with no basement,

I don't know much about construction, but I do know that very very few Florida homes have basements. Not exactly practical.

Yeah probably not practical to have a basement in a state that is notorious for sinkholes.

Its more based on the fact that being a few feet above sea level means we hit water a few feet underground.

That picture is so out of focus, I can't even see the #4 rebar on 24" centers running in both directions through that 4" slab.

Alex Broughton Butt Chugger: Anal Tobacco Furnace: djh0101010: Full page popup ad and 11 page article with a paragraph each? Fark that. Why do so many sites do Mobile totally wrong?

There are many reasons. A large reason is because it is a very new platform and developers are still in training mode.

Sure, couldn't be the fact that with 10 more pages per article you get 10x more advertising revenue. It's because they are newbies. Gotcha.



The internet does not work that way!

Some people  really do have monsters under their bed

This is why I always sleep on belay.

FTA: "You inject the grout under pressure and attempt to fill all the cavities you can find,"

I think we've all been there, am I right, fellas?

Rodeodoc: FTA: There has been no definitive word as to whether the hole will be filled or whether the property could be built on again. But some experts say the fact that the sinkhole claimed a life, and that his body is expected to remain below the surface make rebuilding less likely.

This is Florida.  Some sleaze bag developer will buy the area, give it a fancy name like River Edge Estates, and build a shiat load of cheap homes on it.  then they'll disappear into the pockets of the politicians they feed on, never to be heard of again.

I'm sure FARKers can come up with a better name than that. Strawberry Caverns, perhaps?

BroncoFan_17: I can't imagine what the family must be going through right now. Wondering if their loved one might actually still be alive down there, but unable to communicate that to anyone........then watching as they just burry him. :::Shivers::: As someone who works for a Public Works Department, I also feel for the guys/gals who actually have to tear the home down, and fill in the hole....thus burrying the "body". That has to be an emotional task for them as well. Sad story all around.

Given that they haven't found a body yet (last I checked, anyway), I find myself hoping that the guy wasn't in his room that night. Maybe he'll show up in a couple days at his own funeral, Tom Sawyer-style.

That's just about the only way this story could get any weirder, but this is a Florida thread after all.

vudukungfu: Global warming, rising water tables. Sink holes.

Oh, that's good. Quick, add it to the list.