TAMPA, Fla. — A large sinkhole has opened up near homes and a busy road on the south side of Lakeland near Scott Lake.
Sandra Benavidez Carpenter and her family saw it firsthand.
“I told the kids, ‘We’ve got to see and try to see if we can go close,’” she said.
She said they first noticed a small hole in the ground — near the intersection of Scott Lake Road and Fitzgerald Road — Thursday night but assumed it was related to construction in the area.
When Benavidez Carpenter and her family returned Friday, the hole had grown substantially.
“I was like, ‘Oh gosh, we literally saw a sinkhole forming," Benavidez Carpenter said.
At last measure, the sinkhole is 75 feet across and maybe 120 feet deep. It's located just a few dozen feet from several homes and Scott Lake Road.
Friday, after determining that the sinkhole had grown throughout the day, Polk County decided to close a portion of Scott Lake Road from Fitzgerald Road to Old Scott Lake Road.
This isn't the first time neighbors near Scott Lake have dealt with the repercussions of a sinkhole.
In 2006, multiple sinkholes on the lake bottom opened up, which partially drained the lake, damaged homes, and sank a gazebo.
Lucinda Hall remembers the ordeal well.
“I was born and raised here in Lakeland, and you always have to remember that it’s something that happens in this area," she said.
The latest one, however, may not be as natural.
According to Jay Jarvis, Polk County's Director of Roads and Drainage, a well was recently drilled in the area.
Southwest Florida Water Management District records show the company that owns the land got a permit for a 400-foot well to use for irrigation in April.
“When the well was being drilled, at about 180 feet, they...broke through...a hard layer [of rock], and then it was pretty much a void down to like 300 feet," Jarvis said.
As he explained, puncturing that layer of hard rock may have caused the sinkhole by allowing the earth rock layer to spill into the void below.
For now, Jarvis and the county feel the road is not under threat. Additionally, no one has been ordered to evacuate from any of the nearby homes.
With the sinkhole on private property, the county says it's currently the responsibility of the landowner to patch the hole.
“If it becomes a further issue, then the county may get involved," he said.
According to Jarvis, the landowner is working to get materials and equipment to the sinkhole site.
“What they’re proposing to do right now to try to prevent the hole from opening up anymore is basically start back-filling the hole as it exists," Jarvis said.
Once the hole is filled, Scott Lake Road can be reopened.
However, according to Jarvis, the work won’t be complete until sometime Saturday "at the earliest."
