Classic Rant #912 (March 4, 2013): Fall Into a Sinkhole

I am sure by now that you heard that story of a guy who was going to bed and got swallowed up by a sinkhole--in his own home.

Yes, this bizarre story is true, and what is even sadder is that they may never find his body.

Evidently, a family in Florida was preparing to go to sleep in a private home, a man went into his bedroom, got on the bed, and the earth gave way.

It swallowed him up as if he were sitting on quicksand, and the authorities say that the 20-foot and expanding hole engulfed him, and they can't locate him.

Reports are that his brother, who lived in the same home, heard him yelling for help, and he tried to save him, but he, too, got stuck in the hole and had to be rescued before he got eaten up, too.

The latest report I heard last night is that the house was razed, but it had to be done carefully, because the ground and the hole are continuing to be active. Everything valuable in the house was taken out, and done very carefully, so as not to disturb the hole.

But the man is presumed lost and dead, and authorities have said that this part of Florida is prone to sinkholes, and that others may be coming.

This is a horrible story, a story that you might see in the movies, but never happens in real life.

But it appears that, as they say, truth is stranger than fiction, and this really, really did happen.

I have seen sinkholes, and they are a force of nature that you don't hear that much about, but they are something to behold.

I remember that when my son played Little League, and I was his coach, I received a notification that one of our games was cancelled. The field that we were supposed to play on had a sinkhole in it, and it was too dangerous to play on.

The sinkhole was filled in, but I don't think we ever played on that field again, due to the safety factor.

I can't even imagine a sinkhole under a house. It must have been horrific, to say the least.

It shows, once again, whether we are talking about hurricanes or sinkholes, that the fury of Mother Nature is never to be underestimated.

If she gets riled, just watch out.