For the second night in a row, homeowners living in close proximity to a sinkhole were not allowed to return.
For now, Kathie Dheel is staying with her boyfriend, who also lives at Caribbean Estates in New Port Richey.
“I’ve never seen anything like this anywhere around here,” said Dheel.
Dheel never thought a sinkhole would open up behind her house on Boatswain Drive.
“I was down at my boyfriend’s house and my daughter called me,” said Dheel. “And she said, ‘mom what’s all that traffic up around your house?’ Well, I don’t know, I’m in the house. So I left and came up here and seen tape. What! Walked back there and went ‘oh.'”
Dheel was one of five homeowners told to evacuate.
She said her boyfriend was just doing yard work before the sinkhole opened up.
“He could have been on his lawn mower and now be in the hospital or somewhere else,” she said.
A park employee dialed 911 just after 2:30 p.m. Monday afternoon.
“I work for Caribbean Mobile Home Estates and we have a sinkhole in our park,” said the caller.
Authorities monitored the sinkhole overnight to make sure it didn’t grow.
The sinkhole last measured 16 feet by 16 feet.
Officials said it was also 10 feet deep.
Dheel is just antsy to know when she can go home.
“They’re not telling us anything,” she said. “I’m not gonna say ‘shocking,’ cause you’re in Florida. Things like this happen in Florida.”
