Late Thursday night a family was ripped apart as a house that had been deemed safe from sinkholes suddenly fell deep into one. Jeffrey Bush, 37, lay sleeping in his bed when suddenly the ground shook and a roaring noise like a train or car gave way to the floor falling out from under the bedroom.
Amidst all the chaos, his brother Jeremy Bush ran to his brother's aid as he heard him calling his name for help. He tried desperately to save his brother, but nothing was there but a big hole where his room used to be. He jumped into the hole and began frantically digging. He could only see a tiny bit of the mattress as he began to dig.
"'I feel in my heart he didn't make it,' Jeremy Bush, 35, told Tampa TV station WFTS. 'There were six of us in the house, five got out,'" reported the Chicago Tribune News.
The Bush brothers, Dustin, Jeremy and Jeffrey were very close and worked together doing landscaping work. Everyone but Jeffrey went out for ice cream that night, and the tragedy happened as the rest of the family returned and began getting ready for bed. Jeffrey Bush was sleeping when he began falling into the earth.
“Fire Rescue spokeswoman Jessica Damico said the sinkhole appeared to be as wide as 30 feet, 30-feet deep, and an estimated 100 feet wide down below. 'It started in the bedroom and it has been expanding outward and it's taking the house with it as it opens up,' said Bill Bracken, the head of an engineering company assisting rescuers.” (Chicago Tribune News).
Other news outlets have reported the depth of the sink hole to be as much as 60 feet. However deep, it appears to be expanding and threatening to take the entire house. Neighboring houses have been evacuated because officials fear the sinkhole threatens to swallow them too.
Our hearts and prayers go out to the grieving family and friends. Among the survivors who were in the house at the time is a 2-year-old child.
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