Imagine leaving for work in the morning and finding out a few hours later that your home and every possession within it has been swallowed by the earth. Sinkholes in Florida make that a real possibility.
This week on Florida Matters we’re talking about sinkholes and what homeowners can do to protect themselves and their property.
Our guests include:
Kevin Guthrie, Pasco County’s Assistant County Administrator for Public Safety. Guthrie has been overseeing efforts to mediate the sinkhole that swallowed two homes in Land O’Lakes on July 14 and eventually destroyed five others.
Dr. Lori Collins, Co-Director of the University of South Florida Libraries Digital Heritage and Humanities Collections. Collins is involved in a special partnership between a team of USF scientists and Pasco County to study the Pasco sinkhole and create 3-D models of it to learn from in the future.
Dr. Chuck Nyce, Assistant Professor with the William T. Hold/The National Alliance Program of Risk Management and Insurance at Florida State University. Nyce is involved in a research project that studies sinkhole insurance claims to determine what kind of impact they have on property values.
Special thanks to all our listeners who participated in the discussion both on and off the air.
You can keep the conversation going on our Facebook page, on Twitter or by emailing FloridaMatters@wusf.org.
Check out the links below to see some 3D models of the Pasco sinkhole created by Dr. Lori Collins and the other members of the USF Libraries research team.
Florida Sinkhole Disaster by University of South Florida Libraries on Sketchfab
Saxon Lake Sinkhole 3D Laser Scanning Model by University of South Florida Libraries on Sketchfab
