Sinkhole opens under home in The Villages

SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. — A woman wasn't able to return to her home in The Villages Tuesday, one day after a sinkhole opened beneath a portion of her house.

The sinkhole opened Monday near the front door of her home on Abercrombie Way.

The woman's neighbors told Channel 9 that the homeowner discovered the hole when she walked outside to retrieve a newspaper.

The woman was forced out of her home, which was surrounded with yellow tape and signs warning people not to get close to the home.

She was the only person in the area who had to evacuate.

“They checked the land really good and then just said, 'Take precaution until the engineers can come out to evaluate it,'” resident Roberta Patterson said. "My husband's not concerned right now. Unless it happens in another neighbor's yard, then we'll really get concerned."

Two more sinkholes opened up about five miles away, including one on the Glenville Championship Golf Course.

A sinkhole opened in Ocala Saturday, swallowing a car that was parked at a shopping plaza.

Channel 9 meteorologist Brian Shields said heavy rain has contributed to the recent sinkholes.

Experts said depressions can be a warning sign of a sinkhole. Residents who spot them are asked to call a geologist.

Cox Media Group