Here is another sad/funny sinkhole story depending on one's point of view. This one is from Broward County where waterway residents were rudely woken when backyards collapsed into the adjacent canal. David Fleshler wrote the story. The line that woke me up: "... the city was waiting to hear from the insurance companies' engineers on the possible cause."
Here is
one possible cause; damage to the Biscayne aquifer through excessive water withdrawals. ie. draining wetlands supported by porous limestone. The photo tells the story. Just a day ago, local news reported a sinkhole swallowing a school bus near Tampa. Draining fragile aquifers that used to be Florida wetlands has been great business for Florida developers and land speculators and Big Ag.
Fleshler writes, "Sinkholes form when the limestone underlying the land is dissolved by water and forms a cavity, into which the overlaying land collapses." He might have added how dewatering aquifers serves special interests; ie. the tyranny of consumptive use permits and their role in turning sinkholes into a litigation frenzy. ("Sinkhole Claims Threaten to Engulf Florida Insurers", Wall Street Journal Sept. 21, 2010).
Insurance companies are moving fast to exclude sinkhole damage from homeowner policies. When it comes to publicly commenting on whether water withdrawals are contributing to the rapid rise in sinkholes, the managers of Florida's water management districts disappear as fast as Harry Houdini. So here one for ya, Tea Partiers: don't expect gummint to help y'all out if your house disappears in a sinkhole. That would be "over-reaching"! That would be a'ginst the constitution!
I went searching for the photo that was printed in the Herald. It captures so much of what went wrong with Florida's built landscape. In the photo, see how the AC, the gas grill and satellite TV dish are the last to go. Anyhow, I found the photo (not on the Herald website) but on the Orlando Sentinel's. And the Sentinel includes a few paragraphs the Herald editor chose to cut out (in the interest of saving space, I'm sure):
"Although sinkholes are rare in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, where the limestone layer is thin, their numbers have been growing. Of 24,671 insurance claims for sinkhole damage between 2006 and 2010, Miami-Dade and Broward counties accounted for 2.9 percent through 2009, but 4.2 percent of the ones reported so far in 2010, according to a report by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation." I'd guess that Florida's drained aquifers are just giving out, in some places. Like the edges of canals. Or in sandy counties where an abundant aquifer marked by fresh water, crystalline streams, and incredible wildlife have just plain disappeared into the hands of developers and farmers pumped for every dollar their campaign contributions were worth. And they were worth a lot: the entire state of Florida is sinking under their weight.
The Wall Street Journal-- that extremist publication, writes, "Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the largest insurer of Florida homes, gets about 200 sinkhole claims a month, nearly double the rate a year ago." I wonder if many Florida homeowners, shut out of zombie banks, are using sinkhole insurance claims like home equity lines of credit. It would be interesting to assess jack hammer rentals in the suburbs and see if they track with sinkhole claims.
It is worth a Herald story all of its own: "Miami-Dade County sinks in its own mess". I forgot, for that sort of story you have Eyeonmiami. Merry Christmas and bah humbug! :)
Posted on Sat, Dec. 18, 2010
Canal in Sunrise swallows up backyards of town houses
BY DAVID FLESHLER
Sun Sentinel
The bizarre collapse of a canal bank in Sunrise forced the evacuation of a strip of town houses, as residents scrambled into their clothes and hustled their children onto the sidewalk for safety.
No one knows yet what caused the accident Thursday night when the backyards of several homes in the Spring Tree Cove West complex just north of Oakland Park Boulevard were swallowed.
Engineers from the homeowners' insurance companies were on the scene Friday, walking along the jagged, muddy cliff that reached within a foot or two from the town houses' back doors.
It happened around 10 p.m. Thursday night at the complex in the 3700 block of Northwest 91st Avenue.
``I was looking out my window, and all of a sudden the water was like it was whitewater rapids,'' said Alan Lueck, 46, who has lived there 17 years. ``And there was a one-foot wave in the water as the whole thing dropped.''
His neighbor, Angela Boisvert, 33, was asleep when her husband woke her. It took some time for her to comprehend what he was saying, she said, because canal banks don't often collapse.
``We grabbed the kids and ran,'' she said. She and her family had recently closed on the house. ``Now I have to pay rent and I have to pay a mortgage,'' she said.
Six units were evacuated, with bright orange unsafe structure stickers placed on the doors. A seventh unit is vacant.
On Friday afternoon, as a police officer stood by, residents were allowed back into their homes to retrieve perishables, valuables and personal belongings.
The canal is operated by the city of Sunrise as part of its drainage system.
Sunrise Fire Department Division Chief Tom O'Connell said the collapse appeared to have stopped, with no threat to nearby houses along the canal. He said the city was waiting to hear from the insurance companies' engineers on the possible cause. Meanwhile, he said, city officials were researching the property lines to see where the city's land ended and the town houses' began.
Both residents said they'd heard talk of erosion or a sinkhole as possible causes but had no hard information.
Sinkholes form when the limestone underlying the land is dissolved by water and forms a cavity, into which the overlaying land collapses.
Lueck, the man who saw the bank collapse, said he had alerted the city about a year and a half ago to a hole that had appeared in his backyard and led down to the canal. A city inspector came out and told him not to worry about it, he said, so he filled it in and forgot about it -- until Thursday night.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/18/v-print/1979031/canal-in-sunrise-swallows-up-backyards.html#ixzz18VILIz4k
OrlandoSentinel.com
Sunrise condo residents displaced after backyards fall into canal
By David Fleshler, Sun Sentinel
8:29 PM EST, December 17, 2010
SUNRISE
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The bizarre collapse of a canal bank in Sunrise forced the evacuation of a strip of townhouses, as residents scrambled into their clothes and hustled their children onto the sidewalk for safety.
No one knows yet what caused the accident Thursday night, which swallowed the backyards of several homes in the Spring Tree Cove West complex just north of Oakland Park Boulevard.
Engineers from the homeowners' insurance companies were on the scene Friday, walking along the jagged, muddy cliff that reached within a foot or two from the townhouses' back doors.
It happened around 10 p.m. Thursday at the complex on the 3700 block of Northwest 91st Avenue.
"I was looking out my window, and all of a sudden the water was like it was whitewater rapids," said Alan Lueck, 46, who has lived there 17 years. "And there was a one-foot wave in the water as the whole thing dropped."
His neighbor, Angela Boisvert, 33, was asleep when her husband woke her. It took some time for her to comprehend what he was saying, she said, because canal banks don't often collapse.
"We grabbed the kids and ran," she said. She and her family had recently closed on the house. "Now I have to pay rent and I have to pay a mortgage."
Six units were evacuated, and bright orange unsafe structure stickers were placed on the doors. A seventh unit is vacant. Lawn decorations of Santa, Christmas trees and snowmen stood behind yellow police tape.
On Friday afternoon, as a police officer stood by, residents were allowed back into their homes to retrieve perishables, valuables and personal belongings.
The canal is operated by Sunrise as part of its drainage system.
Sunrise Fire Department Division Chief Tom O'Connell said that the collapse appeared to have stopped and that there was no threat to nearby houses along the canal. He said the city was waiting to hear from the insurance companies' engineers on the possible cause. Meanwhile, he said, city officials were researching the property lines to see where the city's land ended and the townhouses' began.
Both residents said they'd heard talk of erosion or a sinkhole as possible causes but had no hard information.
Sinkholes form when the limestone underlying the land is dissolved by water and forms a cavity, into which the overlaying land collapses.
Although sinkholes are rare in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, where the limestone layer is thin, their numbers have been growing. Of 24,671 insurance claims for sinkhole damage between 2006 and 2010, Miami-Dade and Broward counties accounted for 2.9 percent through 2009, but 4.2 percent of the ones reported so far in 2010, according to a report by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
Palm Beach County did not have enough claims to be listed separately.
Sinkholes are abundant in the state's "sinkhole belt" of Hernando, Pasco and Hillsborough counties, where thicker limestone can form major sinkholes and where insurers have paid hundreds of millions of dollars for sinkhole damage.
Erosion has been a problem along some of the county's rock pit lakes. In 2005, Hurricane Wilma generated waves that tore tens of feet from the backyards of homes in Miramar and Pembroke Pines.
Lueck, the man who saw the bank collapse, said he had alerted the city about a year and a half ago to a hole that had appeared in his backyard and led down to the canal. A city inspector came out and told him not to worry about it, he said, so he filled it in and forgot about it, until Thursday night.
David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4535.
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