DUNEDIN, Florida (AP) Residents of several Florida homes have been evacuated due to a possible sinkhole that opened in a backyard in Pinellas County on Thursday.
Deputy Fire Chief Trip Barrs said the hole appeared to be about 12 feet (four meters) wide when officials arrived on the scene. The Tampa Bay Times reports (http://bit.ly/1gOqlel) that the ground is so unstable that two homes must be demolished.
Sinkholes are common in Florida because the peninsula is made up of porous carbonate rocks that store and help move water underground. Over time, the rocks can dissolve from an acid created from oxygen in water, causing a void under the limestone roof.
