Demolition starts on homes next to Seffner sinkhole site

SEFFNER --

The two houses on either side of the deadly Seffner sinkhole were demolished Wednesday.

A private demolition company started tearing down the homes with long reach excavator and a backhoe excavator just after 9 a.m. The homes were adjacent to the sinkhole that opened in February, killing Jeffrey Bush.

Hillsborough County officials say the homes on Faithway Drive were officially condemned on April 1 after the remediation cost to make repairs to the properties would exceed 50 percent of their value.

County officials said, after Bush's death, they did extensive testing because of the threat of sinkhole activity. The results concluded the soil is unstable, so the county decided to demolish the homes.

Neighbors watched as the homes crashed to the ground. LisaJaudon called one of them home for 21 years.

"Still very surreal, you just find it hard to believe that this is actually happening," she said.

Jaudonsaid she is trying to move on.

"Day by day getting through, through lots of prayer," she said. "You know, our life has drastically changed but we're little by little letting go."

She has already had to let go of some stuff, as when she had to move out, she was not given much time to grab personal items.

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Demolition starts on homes next to Seffner sinkhole site