Massive 85-foot sinkhole started with ripple in parking lot

A sinkhole opened up Thursday in a shopping center parking lot across from Legoland Florida theme park and is continuing to grow, police say.

The depression, which a grocery store worker discovered at about 8:30 a.m. ET on the drive in to work, is maybe 30 feet wide and 5 feet deep. By 6 p.m., it had expanded to 85 feet wide and 18 feet deep, authorities said.

“Early this morning it was just a small depression in the parking lot and some rippling in the asphalt,” said Brian Swain, property manager for Winter Haven Square shopping center about 50 miles east of Tampa. “By 10 o’clock, it had grown.”

Because the sinkhole opened up under the blacktop, much of what is visible is asphalt bending and buckling in the heat. Because it was discovered before most of the stores opened in Winter Haven Square, no cars were damaged. TRUNews