Post by L Roebuck on Dec 2, 2005 9:13:23 GMT -5
Portland couple wait for word on insurance after sinkhole collapse
By Lea Ann Overstreet
MTCN Writer
PORTLAND - The Portland couple whose home was enveloped by a giant sinkhole Monday night now wonder if they will be insured for the disaster.
“All we can do is wait ... we don’t know what the insurance will do, but if it doesn’t cover it, we’ll be in a world of hurt,” Troy Givens said.
Givens and his wife, Yvonne woke up early Tuesday morning to find much of their house gone.
Sometime during the night, a large portion of the Givens’ home fell into the earth when the soil collapsed from underneath them.
The hole had initially taken the utility room of the house, which had previously been the garage. Now more of the home has fallen.
“It has gone all the way to the front,” Yvonne’s sister, Alice Walker, said. “The front wall and front porch have collapsed.”
The couple hope to find out today if their insurance will cover what they have lost.
“It’s just sickening to see. I don’t know what to do, but if it’s the Lord’s will ... we just have to see what happens.”
In the meantime, Dr. Nick Crawford, director of the Center for Cave and Karst Studies at Western Kentucky University, visited the home and determined neighboring homes are in no more danger than any others in the county.
“The homes around them are not threatened by this. The chances of a collapse happening under their homes is no greater than it happening at any of the homes in Portland,” Crawford said.
Crawford said he hopes the couple’s insurance will protect them. He says it could be possible to rebuild on their 106 Hood Trail, but it would be costly.
“It may never collapse again, but I think it would be too expensive to build over it,” Crawford said. “They would have to excavate all the way to the bedrock and fill it with large rocks. I think it’s just too big.”
Crawford says the hole is actually a sinkhole collapse, which is different from a sinkhole.
“A sinkhole is a concave depression that can be hundreds of feet across where water drains down to the center of the bowl shape and into caves underneath,” he said. “A sinkhole collapse happens when the soil collapses down into a crevice or a void in the limestone bedrock.”
Crawford says he has seen hundreds of sinkhole collapses, but says there is no obvious explanation as to why one opened under the Givens’ home.
“I really didn’t see a cause for this to happen. They are not in a low area where water may drain,” Crawford said. “This is apparently a random event and about 25 percent of the ones I see are random.”
Mayor Kenneth Wilber said the city intends to keep an eye on the collapse.
“We may do some testing to see if there are any other voids around it for the protection of everyone,” Wilber said. “We’re going to keep an eye on it and do all we can to help.”
The sinkhole took many memories from the Givens, but Troy Givens says they are alive and have learned just how caring the Portland community is.
“We have had so many people helping us. I guess you just don’t know how many friends you have until something like this happens,” Givens said.
The News Examiner
www.gallatinnewsexaminer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articleAID=/20051202/MTCN0401/312020068/1310/MTCN04
By Lea Ann Overstreet
MTCN Writer
PORTLAND - The Portland couple whose home was enveloped by a giant sinkhole Monday night now wonder if they will be insured for the disaster.
“All we can do is wait ... we don’t know what the insurance will do, but if it doesn’t cover it, we’ll be in a world of hurt,” Troy Givens said.
Givens and his wife, Yvonne woke up early Tuesday morning to find much of their house gone.
Sometime during the night, a large portion of the Givens’ home fell into the earth when the soil collapsed from underneath them.
The hole had initially taken the utility room of the house, which had previously been the garage. Now more of the home has fallen.
“It has gone all the way to the front,” Yvonne’s sister, Alice Walker, said. “The front wall and front porch have collapsed.”
The couple hope to find out today if their insurance will cover what they have lost.
“It’s just sickening to see. I don’t know what to do, but if it’s the Lord’s will ... we just have to see what happens.”
In the meantime, Dr. Nick Crawford, director of the Center for Cave and Karst Studies at Western Kentucky University, visited the home and determined neighboring homes are in no more danger than any others in the county.
“The homes around them are not threatened by this. The chances of a collapse happening under their homes is no greater than it happening at any of the homes in Portland,” Crawford said.
Crawford said he hopes the couple’s insurance will protect them. He says it could be possible to rebuild on their 106 Hood Trail, but it would be costly.
“It may never collapse again, but I think it would be too expensive to build over it,” Crawford said. “They would have to excavate all the way to the bedrock and fill it with large rocks. I think it’s just too big.”
Crawford says the hole is actually a sinkhole collapse, which is different from a sinkhole.
“A sinkhole is a concave depression that can be hundreds of feet across where water drains down to the center of the bowl shape and into caves underneath,” he said. “A sinkhole collapse happens when the soil collapses down into a crevice or a void in the limestone bedrock.”
Crawford says he has seen hundreds of sinkhole collapses, but says there is no obvious explanation as to why one opened under the Givens’ home.
“I really didn’t see a cause for this to happen. They are not in a low area where water may drain,” Crawford said. “This is apparently a random event and about 25 percent of the ones I see are random.”
Mayor Kenneth Wilber said the city intends to keep an eye on the collapse.
“We may do some testing to see if there are any other voids around it for the protection of everyone,” Wilber said. “We’re going to keep an eye on it and do all we can to help.”
The sinkhole took many memories from the Givens, but Troy Givens says they are alive and have learned just how caring the Portland community is.
“We have had so many people helping us. I guess you just don’t know how many friends you have until something like this happens,” Givens said.
The News Examiner
www.gallatinnewsexaminer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articleAID=/20051202/MTCN0401/312020068/1310/MTCN04