Sinkholes strike Plant City, Polk

A day before the ground caved in, creaking sounds echoed through Cory Greenway's house.

"I didn't think anything about it with this cold weather and whatever," he said.

Then on Monday morning, the earth near his carport crumbled.

"I just can't believe it," Greenway said after a sinkhole about 30 yards wide and 50 feet deep opened on the property where his parents have lived for about 40 years. "I mean, you could definitely hear all those sounds."

His home was one of at least eight damaged by sinkholes Monday, including seven in Plant City.

Polk authorities closed County Road 630 near U.S. 27 after a sinkhole swallowed about a dozen trees and a well behind Greenway's house. Three residents of Southern Pines mobile home park, adjacent to Greenway's property, were evacuated, the sheriff's office said.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will monitor and take measurements to see if the sinkhole grows. The cause is being investigated.

The American Red Cross provided relief for affected residents. Greenway, 29, said his friends helped him move furniture and items of sentimental value into a storage trailer. He said he is comforting his father, Bobby Greenway, 72, who also lives in the house.

"My dad was in a very big panic," Cory Greenway said. "He was not doing good. This is his home for 40 years."

In Plant City, Nancy Regan fled her Oakbrook Mobile Home Park residence near State Road 574 and Turkey Creek Road about 10 a.m. after it tilted into a 6-foot slope caused by the sinkhole.

Another sinkhole opened up about 9 a.m. in the Walden Lake subdivision off Sandalwood Drive in Plant City.

By afternoon, sinkholes were reported on Lone Oak and West Trapnell roads and Magnolia Green home development, west of Drawdy Road.

Reporter Ray Reyes contributed to this report. Reporter George H. Newman can be reached at (813) 731-8161.