State Geologists Mapping Florida Sinkholes

State geologists already have been to 30 sites and mapped about 50 sinkholes as they begin to plumb the depth of the state's vulnerability to ground collapse.
 
The Tampa Tribune reports that Florida received a $1.08 million federal grant for a three-year statewide study, starting last month with a pilot study in Columbia, Hamilton and Suwannee counties.
 
The result will be a detailed, multi-layered map that shows where sinkholes are most likely to form, but doesn't predict where and when individual sinkholes will occur.
 
A Tampa-area man was killed in late February after a sinkhole swallowed him in his home. In August, a sinkhole caused the partial collapse of a resort villa near Disney World in Orlando. No one was injured.

In November, a Tampa family was forced from their home just before Thanksgiving after a possible sinkhole opened up at their home.
 
Sinkholes are common in Florida because of porous rock, such as limestone, that stores water underground.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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