OCALA, Fla. — What started as a ground depression in Ocala following days of heavy rain is now a deep hole, and it's just feet away from homes. 

First responders were called out Wednesday to the area of SE 28th Place and SE 5th Terrace, where a 30-foot wide ground depression had formed less than 5 feet from one residence. 

Fire Rescue officials said the people inside the home were able to evacuate safely and that no injuries were reported, and the structure was red-tagged for safety reasons. A woman who lives in the home said she stayed at a family member's house Wednesday night.

The woman said a small body of water near the homes makes flooding a lot easier to inundate the area.

Since the hole is on private property, the city said the owner is responsible for hiring an engineer to address the damage and determine a solution.

"A private engineer will be working on a sinkhole remediation plan and will submit those plans to the city building department for review and approval at a later date,” a city spokesman said.

The fire department is still referring to the area a ground depression. According to the Florida Environmental Department, a sinkhole is a type of depression, but not all depressions are sinkholes.

The U.S. Geological Survey said a sinkhole is when a depression doesn’t have natural drainage. It means the water pools in the hole, or seeps into the subsurface level which is located deep beneath the surface.

Dr. Manoj Chopra, a University of Central Florida professor of civil engineering, said homeowners should be aware of their risks of something similar happening on their property.

"There is a history of sinkholes in certain areas of Florida. We often call it a sinkhole alley that goes from potentially our West Coast  Hillsborough County all the way up to  Daytona. Ocala definitely is a prominent part of that Sinkhole Alley. And again, those are because the conditions are ideal for sinkholes to happen," said Chopra.

He said there is little that can be done now to prevent this depression from growing further and it is likely to continue to expand until it stabilizes. 

Residents collecting sandbags

The city and Marion County have opened sandbag stations for people to protect their homes during severe weather threats. The stations, originally scheduled to be open only Wednesday and Thursday, will remain open until 6 p.m. Friday or until the sand supply is gone, officials said

“Just filling up sandbags for hurricane season, want to keep the house dry, don’t want no water in it,” Michael Dufur said.

Dufur and his wife Pam took advantage of the free sandbags.

“So we are just trying to help ourselves keep safe,” he said.

The two have weathered many storms in their southeast Ocala home over the past 10 years, but for the first time, they are worried about floodwaters. They said on Tuesday, all the rain brought water too close for comfort.

“Our back porch flooded up. We had to mop it, so we are doing this to prevent that from happening again. When you only have so much money, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” he said.

They are just one of dozens who came to pack bags from the several truckfuls of sand city and county employees brought in.

While this is hard labor for the two retirees, they say it’s worth it to keep that from happening again.

“Oh yeah, it saves the house from being damaged, yes,” Dufur said.

Dufur says he and his wife are on social security and have a fixed income, so they can’t afford for this to get any worse.

“Hurricane season coming, you never know what is going to happen so we are just playing it by ear and hope for the best, all we can do,” he said.

Flooding Impacts

Due to flood damage and environmental concerns, the Letty Towles Dog Park, 2299 SE 32nd Avenue in Ocala, is closed effective immediately. The city said it will reopen Friday, June 30, at 8 a.m., weather permitting. For more information, call the City Parks and Recreation Department at 352-368-5517. 

Three other parks have also been closed in Ocala due to flooding: 

• Lillian F. Bryant Park, 2200 NW 17^th Pl.
• Scott Springs Park, 2825 SW 24^th Ave.
• Toms Park, 2245 N. Magnolia Ave.

The parks will remain closed until further notice. For more information, call the City Parks and Recreation Department at 352-368-5517.