Family’s car swallowed by sinkhole in Marion County

Oct 10, 2011

The following article was posted to the WFTV Channel 9 website on October 10, 2011:

Family’s car swallowed by sinkhole in Marion Co.

A Marion County family whose home was teetering on a sinkhole was forced to move out. The big hole opened up Monday after all the heavy rain over the weekend.

 “It’s like a bad dream, literally, it’s like a bad dream,” said Beth Antis.  “Why did it happen to us? You know, we have four kids.”

 The Antis family had to search for a place to live Monday night. At 5 a.m. one tire of their SUV was through the driveway.

“And from there everything went down hill,” Antis said.

 The hole is now big enough to swallow three more SUVs and it continues to grow.

 The Antis’ still haven’t told their children.

 “How do you explain to your 4-year-old why she can’t go home?” Antis said. “She doesn’t understand.”

The Antis family will be staying with a family member and they are expecting their SUV to be pulled from the hole on Tuesday.

Their home is just one of several households ruined by this weekend’s severe storm in Marion County.