I honestly haven had a ton of interest in writing on this story because it has been all over the news and I won’t add anything that hasn’t already been reported. But, in case you missed it one of the larger sinkholes you will see opened up in a Land O Lakes community swallowing a home and a half. It started early in the morning with reports of just a boat sinking into the ground but not long after that it was realized that this was much more serious. There are videos circulating of the house itself coming down into what tis estimated to be a 50′ deep hole. The house next door also partially collapsed not too long after.

The backstory is just as interesting as apparently the home had been confirmed as a sinkhole loss and grouting was recommended to repair it. Not sure how it ended up being repaired other than the grouting was not done, only underpinning was. We have discussed the good and bad of underpins previously. Frankly, even if this house was grouted who knows if that would have saved the day. We also see that underpins can only do so much with a collapse of this magnitude.

The issue now that the sinkhole is stabilized is the ground water contamination and of course the massive cleanup efforts. Presumably these homes have coverage in the event of a catastrophic ground cover collapse of this nature which would presumably also include their expenses associated with having to live elsewhere while the homes are repaired and/or rebuilt. Once again, this all emphasizes the importance of having the right insurance.