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[BSsBrolly]

SEFFNER, Fla. — A man was missing early Friday after a large sinkhole opened under the bedroom of a house near Tampa and his brother says the man screamed for help before he disappeared.

The 36-year-old man’s brother told rescue crews he heard a loud crash around 11 p.m. Thursday, then heard his brother screaming for help.

“When he got there, there was no bedroom left,” Hillsborough County Fire Rescue spokeswoman Jessica Damico said. “There was no furniture. All he saw was a piece of the mattress sticking up.”

The brother called 911 and frantically tried to help his brother. An arriving deputy pulled the brother from the still-collapsing house.

There’s been no contact with the man since then and neighbors on both sides of the Seffner home have been evacuated.

“We put engineering equipment into the sinkhole and didn’t see anything compatible with life,” Damico said. But Damico would not say that the man is presumed dead.

Damico said that at the surface, she estimates the sinkhole is about 30 feet across but officials say the sinkhole spreads to about 100 feet across below the surface.

“The entire house is on the sinkhole,” Damico said.

Engineers arrived at the scene later in the morning. From the outside, there were no cracks or visible signs of damage to the home. The front door was open, but taped off.

Janell Wheeler told the Tampa Bay Times she was inside the house with four other adults, a child and two dogs when the sinkhole opened.

“It sounded like a car hit my house,” she said.

It was dark. She remembered screams and one of her nephews rushing to rescue his brother, trapped in the debris.

Wheeler’s house was condemned. The rest of the family went to a hotel but she stayed behind with her dog, sleeping in her car.

“I just want my nephew,” she said through tears.

http://m.washingtonpost.com/national/large-sinkhole-opens-under-tampa-area-home-swallowing-man-while-brother-tried-to-save-him/2013/03/01/dcd48776-825d-11e2-a671-0307392de8de_story.html

 

[Snkfanatic]

Wow....that is scary. I can't imagine there is much hope of finding him

 

[shira]

Only Flordia houses can produce the opposite of Up

 

[Choke on the Magic]

 

[shira]

That's quite the invagination

 

[sfedai0]

Sinkholes are the magical portal to the other dimension.

 

[Omegasquash]

I hope the family finds peace as soon as possible. That's very scary, and a terrible way to go.

 

[Draft]

Florida man never disappoints.

CNN interviewed the guy's brother this morning, and it was equal parts heart wrenching and hilarious.

"I could hear him hollering for help," "My old lady turned on the light," "He was my brother, man!" The guy was really broken up, and I felt so bad, but he was also the most stereotypical Florida good old boy that I couldn't stop grinning.

 

[Bulbo Urethral Baggins]

That's a terrible way to go. The ground eating you up...
It must feel like the devil is coming for your soul.

 

[injurai]

Florida man never disappoints.

CNN interviewed the guy's brother this morning, and it was equal parts heart wrenching and hilarious.

"I could hear him hollering for help," "My old lady turned on the light," "He was my brother, man!" The guy was really broken up, and I felt so bad, but he was also the most stereotypical Florida good old boy that I couldn't stop grinning.

what's hilarious? Seems he is just remember his brother fondly.

 

[btkadams]

This is awful

 

[Volimar]

How horrifying. Must have been terrified at the end. I hope he passed quickly, I'd hate to think of him stuck down there with broken limbs slowly dying.

 

[Draft]

what's hilarious? Seems he is just remember his brother fondly.

It was like watching Yosemite Sam in mourning.

 

[piratepwnsninja]

Florida man never disappoints.

CNN interviewed the guy's brother this morning, and it was equal parts heart wrenching and hilarious.

"I could hear him hollering for help," "My old lady turned on the light," "He was my brother, man!" The guy was really broken up, and I felt so bad, but he was also the most stereotypical Florida good old boy that I couldn't stop grinning.

I was actually watching that video and was dumbfounded by the audacity of the reporter asking questions. The guy just lost his brother.

 

[Krev]

Awful story.

 

[Jibbajabbawockky]

That's just so damn terrible. I mean, did that guy go to bed thinking "Hey! I'm going to eaten up and killed by a sinkhole!" Just so bizarre.

Reminds me of like an intro to an episode of Six Feet Under or something.

 

[Arcipello]

florida did this to itself... its all caused by the crazy amount of ground water pumping they do in order to get fresh water.

just a few pics of other florida sinkholes

 

[Hot Coldman]

Florida Man no more

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Wait, how deep is this hole? I assume they can't just climb down and see if he's there? Was the house over a cave?

 

[Orrichio]

Sink holes should learn to spit.

 

[Eighty Deuce]

This is something out of a Freddy Kruger movie

 

[cheststrongwell]

Wait, how deep is this hole? I assume they can't just climb down and see if he's there? Was the house over a cave?

They say 50ft. The house may collapse into the hole, so they can't search for him. Sad.

 

[ffdgh]

Good grief that's super creepy.

 

[Shig]

Wait, how deep is this hole? I assume they can't just climb down and see if he's there? Was the house over a cave?

Sinkholes aren't a neat open hole like a well or something. It's a bunch of dirt closing in on itself. You get swallowed by one, you're essentially buried alive.

 

[maquiladora]

Video

 

[Buddha Beam]

Ugh that sounds horrifying. I hope by some miracle they find him alive.

 

[maquiladora]

Wait, how deep is this hole? I assume they can't just climb down and see if he's there? Was the house over a cave?

In the news report they say they tried to put in some listening equipment and a camera but it got swallowed up immediately and they lost contact with it. Creepy.

 

[Windu]

 

[WascallyWabbit]

Florida man never disappoints.

CNN interviewed the guy's brother this morning, and it was equal parts heart wrenching and hilarious.

"I could hear him hollering for help," "My old lady turned on the light," "He was my brother, man!" The guy was really broken up, and I felt so bad, but he was also the most stereotypical Florida good old boy that I couldn't stop grinning.

It was like watching Yosemite Sam in mourning.

You're going to hell, and I'll be there with you for laughing at these

 

[slit]

First thing that came to mind with this story is Freddy Krueger blenderizing Johnny Depp.

 

[Amory]

Sinkholes aren't a neat open hole like a well or something. It's a bunch of dirt closing in on itself. You get swallowed by one, you're essentially buried alive.

Ugh that's like my greatest fear, being buried alive. Truly the worst way to go, all alone and terrified.

 

[Protein]

Well I'm sleeping on a boat from now on.

 

[foxdvd]

Well I'm sleeping on a boat from now on.

 

[big_z]

you know that falling feel you sometimes get when nearly asleep. some day it might be a sinkhole.

hopefully we get some video of the hole itself. maybe toss another camera in there and live stream it.

Well I'm sleeping on a boat from now on.

 

[maquiladora]

 

[Vyer]

well that's fucking terrifying

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

 

[saizo]

I guess you could say he's in the hole.

But really that's awful and sounds utterly terrifying.

 

[samus i am]

So sad. That's probably one of the worst ways to go.

 

[LogicStep]

Wtf is this a common occurrence?

 

[maquiladora]

Wtf is this a common occurrence?

 

[Pezking]

 

[AirBrian]

In the news report they say they tried to put in some listening equipment and a camera but it got swallowed up immediately and they lost contact with it. Creepy.

Mother Nature gets what Mother Nature wants.

 

[anotherVegan]

Why is it always Florida?

 

[Zoe]

What's the purpose of spraying water into there?

 

[jossueinacoma]

spontaneous sinkhole.....sounds horrible....nightmarish

 

[Odoul]

That is some nightmarish shit.

A fucking hole under your bedroom swallows you. Isn't that some primal fear hardwired into our brains?

 

[Eighty Deuce]

What's the purpose of spraying water into there?

There may have been a gas line, probably spraying water to prevent a fire.

 

[Enduin]

What's the purpose of spraying water into there?

Free pool?

 

[maquiladora]

What's the purpose of spraying water into there?

sinkhole got thirst.