One Plant City family has been forced out of their homes, after one family member discovered a sinkhole in the backyard.
The Manus family has been living in a motel after Thomas Manus discovered last weekend a hole in the backyard of his home, on North Country Hills Court.
Sinkhole repair crews from L.R.E. Ground Services Inc. worked Wednesday to stabilizing the house. The depth of the hole is still unclear, and repairs could take anywhere from one to six months.
UPDATE:
For 18 years, Thomas Manus called 4604 Country Hills Ct. N. home. But now Manus and his family have had to walk away from their house without knowing when, or even if, they can return.
That’s because on Saturday, Manus found the beginnings of a sinkhole forming underneath his back porch.
“It’s hard,” Manus said. “Being in this place. Can’t go back home.”
At around 4 p.m., Manus said he heard a car crash off of Turkey Creek Road, just behind his house. At the same time, the ground began to shake.
He went outside to check out the car accident. But what he found in his own backyard was a cause for much more alarm.
Noticing a hole underneath the patio, he called the insurance company.
A police officer also responded to the house. In a computer-aided dispatch report the officer noted that the hole was about 2 feet in diameter and split off into three different directions; around 6 to 8 feet under the house; around 10 feet under the porch; and an unknown distance into the backyard.
On Tuesday, the sinkhole has been filled in with concrete as a temporary fix. Two pylons have also been put in place for stabilization.
City code enforcement, the fire chief, two city engineers and an insurance adjustor have been on the property this week evaluating the sinkhole.
Madrid Engineering from Bartow has taken sonograms of property from inside and outside the house.
Manus has been told that the sinkhole is situated in the backyard, but that movement has been detected in the front yard as well. He has also been told that the sinkhole is limited to just his lot. He has no idea how big it might be or if he’ll be able to live in the house again.
“It’s been an ordeal,” Manus said.
Manus lives at the residence with his wife Tina, daughter Lindsey and his granddaughter.
“My grandbaby’s only 10 months old, but even she’s attached to (the house),” Manus said.
The family was advised to move out of the property. Manus said around 48 people showed up, some he didn’t even know, to help them move their belongings on Saturday. Members of the Plant City Church of God and Plant City’s First Baptist Church were among the movers.
A code enforcement official said this was the first sinkhole around the area of the neighborhood.
Associate Editor Amber Jurgensen contributed to this report.
