Sinkhole Vulnerability Mapping: Results from a Pilot Study in North Central Florida

At the end of June in 2012, Tropical Storm Debby dropped a record amount of rainfall across Florida which triggered hundreds, if not thousands, of sinkholes to form which resulted in tremendous damage to property. The Florida Division of Emergency Management contracted with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Florida Geological Survey to produce a map depicting the state’s vulnerability to sinkhole formation. The three-year project began with a pilot study in three northern Florida counties: Columbia, Hamilton and Suwannee. Utilizing the statistical modeling method Weights of Evidence, results from the pilot study yielded a 93 percent success rate of predicting areas where the geology is conducive to sinkhole formation. Lessons learned and field mapping techniques developed during the pilot study are now being applied to map the entire State’s vulnerability to sinkhole formation.