Several sinkholes open up, forcing residents out of four homes

THE VILLAGES, Fla. (FOX 35 WOFL) - Several sinkholes have opened up overnight in The Villages, affecting four different homes in the same neighborhood.

Two of the homes have been condemned, while residents of the other two homes have been forced out of their homes out of precaution.

Frank Newman, a resident of one of the four homes, explained that he started to hear weird sounds around 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday night but did not think anything of it until he heard more sounds early Thursday.

"I thought it was thunder," he said.  "It made a funny noise, and I guess it was the collapsing of ground, and it was pretty loud."

Police knocked on his door at 3 a.m. to tell him that he had to leave. He has lived there since 2004.

"It's a shock! It's troublesome, because you don't know how far inward those go and my neighbor she's worried, because she seen all this cracks."

One of the four homes has a crack in the front of the house. The woman who lives there says that she had to exit through the back of her home because there is a huge sinkhole near the front door.

The street has been blocked off the safety of the residence and officials will soon turn off the water.  The largest of the holes is estimated to be 35 feet deep. 

Engineers will survey the sinkholes to determine what must be done next.