By Tamas Mondovics
Renewed concern on the part of residents living in Seffner flared up once again when a sinkhole at 240 Faithway Dr. reopened last month, triggering memories of a night they have been trying to put behind them for more than a year.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t think about it,” said Jeremy Bush, whose brother Jeffrey, was killed when a sinkhole opened under his bedroom and swallowed everything in the room shortly after he turned in for the night.
Jeffery’s body was never recovered, but was buried for good onsite following a brief funeral ceremony by family members just yards away from the hole, before County officials filled the then unstable cavity with gravel and dirt.
“I have a hard time sleeping at night because of it,” Jeremy added, who tried to comprehend the reality that the sinkhole which had killed his brother in early 2013, has reopened.
According to County officials, a woman was walking her dog and called 911 after she noticed the gaping hole at the very same location of the original, now sitting behind a chain link fence.
“Inspections have determined that heavy rain during the last few weeks induced the hydraulic stress required to mobilize the gravel and cause it to move downward to the sink throat, causing a new 17 ft. wide by 20 ft. deep hole to form,” said County Spokesperson Michelle VanDyke.
VanDyke said that according to engineers, such an event was eventually bound to happen.
“As expected, this hole formed in exactly the same place as the sinkhole, which opened in February 2013,” she said, adding, “This was done to protect neighboring properties.”
Confirming that there is no danger to residents living within the neighborhood, engineers from Ardaman and Associates began to fill in the sinkhole with an approximately 170 cubic yards of additional gravel while adding water to more securely embed the material into the hole.
Fortunately there were no casualties in Seffner this time. However, for area residents, especially for members of the Bush family, the emotional toll that the appearance of the second crater at a site that should now be the resting place of their loved one, will take some time to suppress.
For more information, visit www.hillsboroughcounty.org.
