Just days after a sinkhole partially swallowed a home in Apopka, Florida, a second sinkhole has formed on the same road.
Orange County Fire Rescue officials were called Thursday to a home at 517 West Kelly Park Road in Apopka, where a 30-foot by 30-foot sinkhole was found about 100 feet from the home, according to authorities.
A separate sinkhole formed Tuesday morning at 222 West Kelly Park Road, just a few homes away from Thursday’s depression.
Thursday's sinkhole, which opened up near a greenhouse, is not endangering any property, officials said.
The two sinkholes have caught the attention of Orange County Commissioner Bryan Nelson, who visited the home swallowed by a sinkhole Thursday.
"It's a total loss," he said.
Nelson, who works as an insurance agent, said the problem for homeowners in the area will be finding an insurance company to cover that area in the near future.
"Some insurance companies probably won't want to write insurance in this area until they kind of figure out what's going on," he said.
Emergency crews were called at 8:22 a.m. Tuesday to the home on West Kelly Park Road in Apopka. Family members said they began noticing the depression Monday night.
"I saw big, deep cracks in the bathroom. The tub was sinking and the window was coming loose, and I said, 'It's time to go,'" homeowner Ellen Miller said.
The family said they grabbed everything they could and moved it to the front lawn before their home crumbled into the 25-foot by 15-foot hole.
"We made it through the hurricane. We were really, really lucky, and then this," Miller said. "This is the only home I know. It's the only home my kids know."
The Millers will stay with their daughter next door while they figure out their next step.
>> Florida home partially swallowed by sinkhole
Although it’s not known if the sinkhole is related to Hurricane Irma, experts said sinkholes aren’t uncommon after hurricanes.
“When you have heavy rains, the chances of sinkholes (appearing goes) up quite a bit,” said Dr. Manoj Chopra, a UCF engineering professor.
He said sinkholes can form when the rain and floodwaters caused by hurricanes start to recede.
Sinkholes can happen suddenly. Miller said the hole under her home formed in a matter of hours.
“We watched it all night and it got bigger and deeper and finally, at 4 in the morning, I saw big deep cracks in the bathroom,” she said.
Chopra expects more sinkholes to form throughout the state.
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