Florida
Related: About this forumFamily learns body will not be recovered, says final goodbyes
SEFFNER --
Officials have discontinued the rescue effort of Jeff Bush, the man who was swallowed by a large sinkhole that opened beneath a Seffner home late Thursday night.
Its not possible to recover the body, said County Administrator Mike Merrill during a press conference Saturday evening.
Demolition of the house is scheduled to begin tomorrow morning which is important for securing the site, officials said.
Bush, 36, who was pulled down into the hole when it developed without warning, is presumed dead. Authorities were limited in their search and recovery efforts because of the threat that the house could collapse into the hole at any time.
Experts are saying the work needs to be done from the perimeter and they will be moving in equipment soon to start that process.
The sinkhole currently extends down 50-60 feet and at least one third of the house and interior floor slab has gone into the hole. Officials said the walls are hanging," and the hole has extended a bit into the backyard.
Engineer Ross McGillivray said the sinkhole will begin to slope and become about the size of the house. McGillivray has been working in Fla. since the 70s and said he's never heard of a sinkhole causing a fatality.
http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2013/3/2/recovery_attempts_to.html
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,297 posts)Little Star
(17,055 posts)2naSalit
(86,043 posts)On edit:
And buried at the bottom of the article...
"Jeremy Bush said someone came out to the home a couple of months ago to check for sinkholes and other things, apparently for insurance purposes.
"He said there was nothing wrong with the house. Nothing. And a couple of months later, my brother dies. In a sinkhole," Bush said."
Control-Z
(15,681 posts)I can't imagine. Talk about something you have absolutely no control over. The family must be devastated.
The Blue Flower
(5,419 posts)The common wisdom then about sinkholes was that the aquifer kept the limestone from drying out and crumbling. As the aquifer is lowered by pumping water out for humanuse, the spongy consistency of the limestone can no longer support the surface. I thought everyone knew this, but it seems as though even the media is now saying that the ebb and flow of underwater streams is the reason for sinkholes.