America’s ‘sinkhole alley’ – where roads cave in, homes are swallowed whole and people vanish into the void beneath [Video]

19:26 EDT 07 Jul 2024, updated 07:46 EDT 08 Jul 2024

Central Florida has been dubbed ‘Sinkhole Alley’ after it became notorious for the dangerous phenomenon in which the ground collapses without warning – putting nearby homes and businesses at huge risk. 

Many residents in the state are still haunted by a major incident that occurred at a car dealership in Lake Rose in 1981, with some vehicles still below the surface today. 

Dr. Manoj Chopra, an expert in sinkholes and erosion from the University of Central Florida, spoke to ClickOrlando this week about the prevalence of sinkholes across the state and why they happen.

Chopra says ‘Sinkhole Alley’ encompasses a huge swath of land in Florida and ‘goes all the way from Hillsborough County, and close to Tampa, all the way up to Daytona, and through our areas of Maitland and Winter Park’.

Of the nearly 27,000 sinkholes reported in Florida, 20,145 of the dangerous voids are located in Sinkhole …