Officials in Ocala working on sinkholes

OCALA, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - One westbound lane of Southeast 31st Street was open Monday evening, but in the eastbound lanes, there were some big headaches and concern among neighbors because of this sink hole.

"Yeah, It's scary,” Marilyn Sedan said with her driveway just a few yards from where the sinkhole opened up. "I think it should be fixed as soon as possible,” Sedan explained. “We are in danger, and they haven't told us anything about it."

Ocala's Public Works Director, Darren Park, told Fox 35, no homes are in danger. He said it's actually 5 sinkholes that opened up late Friday night and Early Saturday morning. Two have been filled in and they've got mounds of dirt out today to fill in more. "The biggest one we found is probably 8 feet across, about 30 feet deep,” Park explained.

DPW doesn’t know if these 5 smaller holes are part of a bigger problem underground, but the Earth has stopped moving for now. If you look closely at the site, you can see part of the road caved in. There's even a sizeable crack in the road that's several feet long.

Fox 35 asked Park what is causing the sinkholes  "It could be any number of things. Could be natural settlements, could be the rains. We're not really sure yet at this point." Neighbor, Eduardo Rodea, said  "It's terrible!"

Park  said they'll have to tear up part of the road to get a closer look at the problem and figure out a permanent fix. Marilyn Sedan added "We're gonna be praying for that." Park said it could take a week or two to fix.