CLERMONT, Fla. — A Lake County family was forced to evacuate Monday night after two sinkholes opened up in a Clermont neighborhood. The family had to be evacuated after one of the holes opened a few feet from their home on Spyglass Loop in the Green Valley Subdivision (see map).
SLIDESHOW: Images Of Two Sinkholes
The Cherry family packed up and moved out of their home as a 30 to 35-foot wide, 20-foot deep sinkhole threatened their home. The same hole was right up against a vacant home next door.
J.J. Jennings, who used to live in the now-vacant home, shook his head as he looked at the sinkhole Tuesday that is nearly identical to one that formed almost a decade ago in 2001.
"This has happened before here? Is that true?" WFTV reporter Steve Barrett asked.
"Yeah, nine years ago, exact same thing. Like déjà vu, identical," Jennings said.
Jennings owned the house in 2001 and said the fix that engineers did back then just postponed the inevitable.
"They grouted it with hydraulic cement, filled it with lime rock and all kinds of things," he said.
One house is vacant, but the other had to be evacuated. One resident spoke to Channel 9 on Monday night as the family was being evacuated.
"It's very scary to think, you know, tomorrow morning some of our things could be damaged, our home ... but our number one concern now is our family," Darcey Cherry said.
However, what's new this time around is a second hole that formed in the middle of the golf course fairway, about 50 yards away and a little smaller but just as deep. A greenskeeper told Eyewitness News he believes both holes grew overnight.
Golfers only get eight holes now, because the fifth fairway is closed.
"This has been a rough year, you know, with the weather, the rain, now sinkholes. I just can't believe it," golfer John Krika said.
Spring regularly brings sinkholes, especially after heavy rains, so experts say there could be more. Most insurance policies cover sinkhole damage. In Central Florida, Lake, Marion and Flagler counties face the greatest risk of sinkhole damage.
WFTV
