Engineers continue to investigate 12-15 sinkholes that opened on April 25 in a gated community in Ocala, Fla. Residents have evacuated eight townhomes near a retention pond that was drained by one sinkhole, exposing several others in the pond. Sinkholes also opened on the slope above the pond and in a street on the other side of the townhomes, but no structures or buried infrastructure have been damaged or weakened. The displacements are temporary, says the president of Sentry Management Inc., which manages the development for the homeowners’ association.
Geo-Technologies Inc., Ocala, is investigating the sinkholes for the homeowners’ association and has issued a report on the holes near the building. The firm is preparing a second report on the larger holes near the retention pond. Geo-Tech declined to reveal the findings, which will go first to the association.