What’s the difference between a sinkhole and a ground depression?

Some residents in Lake County have no idea when they will be able to come home – if at all – after ground depression opened underneath their house. It happened late Saturday night on Compass Rose Lane in Groveland.

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On Monday, neighbors who live next door to where the crater appeared were able to get some of their belongings out after the fire department told them to evacuate their place as a precaution.

“We went out to dinner, and the insurance company called my cell phone and told me, ‘You better come over here now because we have a big problem,” said Charles Alvarez, who has lived in the same home since 2006. “The Fire Department said we have to evacuate for our safety because they don’t know if that’s going to expand, if the sinkhole or depression may expand into our area, into our house.”

The depression is more than 6 feet deep, most of it still hidden underneath the home.

The Fire Department and city staff visited the site on Monday.

Read: Crews monitor large hole that opened up underneath Groveland home

“This hole has not grown in size or moved in almost 48 hours now,” said Chief Kevin Carroll, Groveland Fire Department. “Safety is the number one priority. Secondly is to do what we can to protect the structure and the adjoining structure, which it hasn’t technically crossed over the property line yet.”

Ground depressions and sinkholes are far too common in Florida, and although they may look alike, they are not the same thing.

“Not all ground depressions are sinkholes,” said Manoj Chopra, engineering professor at UCF. “Ground depressions can be caused by many different reasons. It could be erosion due to water flow. It could be something underneath, such as a pipeline. Whereas sinkholes only happen when the soil on top of this rock migrates through the cracks in the rock, causing cavities to form, and eventually the cavities grow with more water, so the surface fails.”

Florida is known as the sinkhole capital of the United States. Additionally, parts of Florida are included in what’s known as the Sinkhole Alley.

“We often call the area between Hillsborough County all the way through Central Florida, between Daytona and DeLand, the Sinkhole Alley because, historically, that’s the area where a lot of sinkholes have happened,” said Professor Chopra. “The best way to keep track of it is to just look at historical data that the Florida Geological Survey maintains, and then and see how many sinkholes are happening there.”

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Although sinkholes cannot be predicted, you can watch for signs in your home.

Professor Chopra offered some tips on how to spot a sinkhole, ground depression before it happens:

Look for small depressions in your yard or garden – “Look for depression and water accumulation,” Chopra said. “Sometimes it might be just a localized depression, but if you start to see more and more of it and it’s building up higher, it may be a good idea to have somebody take a look at it.”

Look for cracks inside the house – “Typically, these are sideways cracks because things are moving at the bottom,” said Chopra. “If you start to see that your doors are not closing properly, or your windows are not closing properly, that’s a sign.”

Cracking noises – “It is the worst case, crackling noises,” said Professor Chopra. “You shouldn’t be don’t be alarmed. But we live in Central Florida. We live in an area that is well known for sinkholes, so it’s a good idea to be aware of these things, and particularly cracks.”

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It might come as a surprise, but depending on where you are in the State of Florida, you might not even have sinkhole coverage, according to experts.

“Most insurance carriers in Florida won’t approve the sinkhole coverage,” said Dawn Krupp, an insurance expert. “The three main counties most carriers won’t give sinkhole coverage on would be Orange County, Osceola County, and Seminole County, due to the likelihood of sinkholes happening.”

Krupp explained that all Florida plans cover catastrophic ground collapse, just not sinkholes. If you did not specifically ask for that to be part of your plan, it’s unlikely that you have that kind of coverage.

For those who qualify, the added coverage could be as low as $25.

“If they were approved for sinkhole coverage, the deductible is 10% of the coverage, a dwelling coverage on their home,” Krupp said. “So, if you have a $500,000 home, then the sinkhole deductible is $50,000 because it is such an in-depth procedure.”

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