ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — More than a dozen residents were allowed to move back into their homes Monday nearly a week after a sinkhole near their condo complex in Altamonte Springs forced them to evacuate.
Officials with the American Red Cross said they responded to reports of the hole opening in the complex at about 6 p.m. Tuesday. By the weekend, the 20-foot-wide hole had been filled back in with dirt.
The sinkhole affected 16 condominiums at the Royal Arms Condos on Orange Drive in Altamonte Springs, officials said.
They said the evacuations affected at least 13 residents, including two seniors, ages 88 and 92.
The Red Cross assisted displaced residents.
#BREAKING More:Altamonte Springs Police say sinkhole has been growing since they first arrived at Royal Arms Condos around 6:20. They’re not saying how deep or wide it is, but it’s spreading under the foundation of a 16-unit condo building! Continuing coverage on #WFTVat11 @WFTV pic.twitter.com/FVQGgKddkr
— Ken Tyndall (@KenTyndallWFTV) October 30, 2019
Engineers said they filled the hole in with dirt.
"The process of stabilization necessitates putting dirt in it, so what's happened is that we have had a volume of earth that has been lost down into a deeper cavity in the earth," engineer Byron Anderson said.
A cause for the sinkhole has not been determined, but engineers said that as of Monday the building was safe to live in.
Watch drone footage of the hole below:
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