How the Road Ate a Toyota Camry

You've all seen by now that the roads we are traveling each day by foot or by car have a tendency of becoming huge holes in the ground, provided certain conditions are met. Back in May, for instance, we showed you how a Hungarian highway developed a habit of (at least) trying to swallow passing cars, after heavy rains affected the area.

In Florida however, the road tried a different approach. For yet undetermined reasons, the ground beneath a condominium complex's parking lot near the University of South Florida campus began to sink, threatening the safety of at least a dozen families this past weekend.

The speed with which the sinkhole appeared and deepened surprised even Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Chief Frank Fernandez. According to TBO, the residents of the Bordeaux Village Condominiums complex phoned for help at 6:09 a.m. At that time, a Toyota Camry was taking a beauty nap in the parking lot.

By the time firefighters got to the scene a few minutes later, the hole grew big enough that it was able to swallow the sleeping beauty completely, sending it a few feet below road level. According to Fernandez, the measurements taken at the scene showed the hole was 20 feet wide and 10 feet deep, but was continuing to grow.

Fortunately, nobody was hurt as the hole grew bigger and bigger. Condominium residents said on Sunday they would call a company to stabilize the hole. For now, however, nobody said anything about fixing it.