OCALA, Fla., Aug. 21 (UPI) -- A Florida neighborhood lost a 5-acre lake that drained in a few hours, probably to a sinkhole.
The property manager in Woodland Village in Ocala noticed that something appeared to be amiss Tuesday afternoon, WKMG-TV reported. By 4:30 p.m., callers told him the lake was all but gone.
When the sun went down, the lake, which had been 8 feet deep in some places, was completely drained.
The subdivision, which has 700 residents living in a mix of condos, townhouses and houses, lost a lake under similar circumstances in 1996.
Florida, with a top layer of limestone, is especially prone to sinkholes. A recent one swallowed a house, killing a man.
While sinkholes forming underneath lakes can drain them, they can also become lakes. Kingsley Lake, a 2,000-acre body of water near Starke in northern Florida that is almost perfectly round, is believed to be an old sinkhole.
