His wedding ring did not.
As the family stood
outside early Thursday, a firefighter buckled herself up, smashed a
window, then snatched the ring from a desk in Dupre's office.
"And a few minutes later, the whole thing collapsed back down there," he said.
Sinkholes like this one
in Dunedin, a city of about 35,000 people just north of Clearwater, are
hardly rarities in Florida. Hundreds pop up in the Sunshine State each
year, like the one in August that gobbled a condo building in the town
of Clermont.
Dupre not only knew of
the dangers, but he also was doing something about them. After spotting
"a few little hairline cracks," he contacted his insurance company and,
after a lot of back-and-forth about what to do, had workers come to his
western Florida house over the last few days to start stabilizing the
ground.
"We were actually
planning ..., when the whole repair was done, to put a pool in the
backyard," he said, noting he'd already gotten estimates. "That (hope)
is over.
2 homes in Florida sinkhole
Photos: When the ground gives way
"We thought it was going to get fixed. And unfortunately, it's not."
All those plans changed
after his daughter came into his bedroom before dawn Thursday, saying,
"Daddy, somebody is trying to get our house!"
Dupre said he first dismissed the thought, thinking it was the wind, but then he heard a loud crack.
"I said, 'There's something wrong.'"
After seeing what had
happened to their screened-in room, Dupre told the rest of his family to
grab some clothes and get out of the house, then called 911.
They haven't been back
inside, with Dupre saying he expects only firefighters -- like the one
who rescued his wedding ring -- will go in, if it's even safe enough for
them.
As of Thursday
afternoon, the sinkhole that enveloped Dupre's home and badly damaged
another was 70 to 75 feet wide, 50 feet deep and growing, according to
Dunedin Fire Chief Jeff Parks. Seven homes in total were evacuated.
But the hole shouldn't be like that for long.
"The plan now (is) to
fill the hole tomorrow," Parks said, "before some rain is expected this
weekend (that may) make it a lot worse."
The Dupres won't be able
to go back into their home at that point, however. They will be staying
at a Holiday Inn Express that graciously put them up for two nights,
then asking friends to let them stay over until they figure out what to
do next.
"It's all new for us," Dupre said. "... We're trying to do our best."
Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/14/us/florida-sinkhole/
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