Today's rant is about sinkholes. Yes, that's right I said sinkholes. If you lived in Florida, then you would know all about them. Seems there isn't a month that goes by that there's another new sinkhole on the news destroying somebody's home, business or even swallowing them whole.
First, let's take a quick look at what sinkholes are actually caused by. Sinkholes are actually a natural and very common feature in our Florida landscape. These landforms known as karsts include depressions, caves (air or water filled), disappearing streams, springs, & underground aquifer systems. There are literally thousands of sinkholes that occur and many of these even connect to underground springs, rivers, & lakes. Take a look at this map from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Why Do Sinkholes Occur?
Our entire beautiful state of Florida sits atop several thousand feet of limestone. Now, limestone is a rock that can form with void spaces called porosity. Where those void spaces are connected, the rock is very permeable. Having this limestone can make fantastic aquifers & provide millions of gallons of fresh drinking water for residents & agriculture. The biggest reason sinkholes actually form is when acidic groundwater starts dissolving the limestone. As the groundwater slowly flows through the limestone, it will form a karst, or a cave, spring, or sinkhole. Now the water inside the aquifers exerts pressure on the limestone & actually helps to stabilize the overlying surface layer, usually clay, silt & sand. The collapse can be triggered by a heavy overload, caused by a heavy downpour, flooding, or when water gets pumped out of the ground. When that water leaves the cavities within the limestone, the pressure that supported the surface material also dissipates.
Now a big controversy has been going on for years because as Florida's population (20,612,439) has grown dramatically, the state has been pumping out groundwater, destabilizing our own limestone bedrock & contributing to the very problem we have here. So…lemme get this straight…we have such a huge demand for clean water, that we're pumping it out of the ground at such a rapid rate, we're creating this sinkhole nightmare?! So maybe the residents can maybe sue the state at some point in the future for contributing to the problem? Something to think about for sure. We had a desalination plant planned for this state which would've worked perfectly, but the state hired some bum contractor & we got screwed & then it never happened. So yeah, maybe we should sue them on that alone.
So now you know what sinkholes are and why they occur, let's take a look at some of these things!
Here's the latest one we have here in the area. Scroll down and watch the live video of the sinkhole eating the house! Yikes!
Check out one of most infamous sinkholes in Seffner which I used to live near years ago. Ya, freaky.
Here's some more pictures from the Florida Geology Department.
Should we be worried about sinkholes if we live in Florida?
Well, it's not something I worry about per se, but it's definitely a concern for me. I can tell you there are certain places I will not live. I will always look at hurricane zones, flood zones, and of course sinkhole zones. Check this out, we actually have a "sinkhole alley" here in Florida. That's basically the west-central Florida area surrounding Tampa Bay which is where I live. D'oh! At this point, I feel like "Hey, if it's gonna happen, that's fucking destiny!"
Get this, sinkhole insurance claims tripled from 2006-2010. So if you look at some of the correlating data, the population growth has seriously effected our sinkhole issue. Again, our government representatives have failed us again in not rectifying this problem but I guess we'll deal with that at another juncture when one of them gets swallowed up right?!
If you ever come to live in Florida, steer clear of "sinkhole alley".
I'll leave you with a great compilation of the world's craziest, biggest, & baddest, sinkholes. Enjoy!
