Large Sinkhole Swallows Up Road In The Villages Of Florida

The Villages retirement community in Florida had another sinkhole form in the community. This one, much larger than the issue they had last summer.

Back in August, the Villages had a pair of sinkholes form in a residential road in Monarch Grove. Those looked to measure just a few feet across and did not threaten any residences. The public works department leveled and backfilled the holes. One of the holes was very close to the driveway of one of the villas, but didn't directly affect the residence. According to the Villages-News "a total of 351.3 cubic yards of concrete was injected at 21 sites to depths ranging from 25 to 55 feet."

Yesterday, another sinkhole was reported. This in the city of Wildwood. In Florida we don't like to use the word sinkhole. They refer to it as a 'depression'. Well, this depression swallowed up a big part of the road.

With a hurricane you know it's coming. You can prepare. And most importantly, hurricanes are covered by insurance. Sinkhole coverage is not standard on most policies. You need to add it.

This is not a phenomenon exclusive to The Villages. Polk County had a big one open up last month in an area where a company had planned to start a development. No word if those plans are to continue.

Let me start of by saying that no where in Florida is nearly as bad as Chicago. That city is on top of Orkin’s Top 50 Rat Infested Cities List for the ninth year in a row. I witnessed this first hand while staying at a hotel in downtown Chicago. We were several floors up and our view overlooked an alley. We noticed a dog poking around the dumpsters. A dog with a very long tail. Once it got closer to the light we realized it was the biggest rat you could image. Florida can't begin to come close to the rats they have in Chicago.

Orkin ranked metro regions by the number of new rodent treatments performed from Sept.1, 2022, to Aug. 31, 2023. This ranking includes both residential and commercial pest control treatments. Pretty efficient way of measuring the problems.

After Chicago comes another rat haven that I'm familiar with. Los Angeles. In the latest rankings, Los Angles has now overtaken New York for the second spot. Congratulations?

After New York at 3, comes Washington DC at 4, and San Francisco at 5.

There are rats in Florida, however the 3 Florida cities that made the list are much further down. Our rat problems aren't nearly as bad as the cities on top the list. Additionally, one thing to note, of the 3 Florida cities that made the list, all moved up in the rankings over the previous year. So our rat problem seems to be growing.

If you don't believe there's rats in Southwest Florida, plant a mango tree in your yard. They'll find you.

Miami is the rattiest city in Florida, ranking number 19 on the list nationally. That's up from 20th place last year. I've never personally seen a rat in Miami, but I also stick to the nicer parts of town when I'm there.

Tampa jumped 5 spots in this year's rankings, coming in at number 36 nationally. Unlike Miami, I have personally witnessed rats around dumpsters at an apartment complex in Tampa. That's why you don't take your trash out at night. Also, what's the meaning behind throwing rats on the hockey rink?

Not sure why they lumped Orlando and Daytona Beach together to put them at number 37 on the list. This pairing is up 12 spots since last year's rankings. If there's a rat problem in Orlando, I don't see it. It always seemed to me that the city was pretty clean. Except for that one rat over in Disney, but I hear he's quite the cook.