No injuries were reported after a sinkhole opened up on the grounds of a Florida resort property near Walt Disney World.
Aerial video footage shows a three-story building mostly collapsed as a result of the sinkhole that opened beneath it late Sunday night. The Orlando Sentinel said the damage to the building was "catastrophic" and that two neighboring buildings were evacuated because their structural integrity may be in jeopardy.
Three dozen people were reportedly evacuated from the affected buildings at the Summer Bay Resort, a 400-acre resort property about four miles west of Walt Disney World resort, the Sentinel reported, adding that about 4,500 guests were on the property at the time the sinkhole opened.
Sinkholes are a common occurrence in Florida's highly porous, limestone bedrock.
"After the geologists' initial survey here, they've indicated it is what they describe as a classic Florida sinkhole about 100 feet in diameter and on a preliminary basis, they do not have a concern that it is growing or will grow," said Summer Bay resort president Paul Caldwell.
While the sinkhole didn't take any lives or cause bodily injury -- a fact resort operators credit to the swift emergency response of their staff -- it ruined the vacations of many of those who were staying in the damaged buildings.
"I talked to a lady this morning whose keys, medicine, money and Disney tickets were all in building 104 [the collapsed building] and she in all likelihood will never see it again," Caldwell told the Sentinel.
Caldwell said the resort is issuing cash advances to guests in need, some of whom were left with no clothes to wear. Displaced guests were relocated to other parts of the resort or to other properties in the area.
"We are going to do whatever we can to do whatever is right," he said. "We are in the hospitality business and we want to save our guests' vacation."
Richard Shanley, a resort security guard, was one of the first to respond to the scene, after a family hailed him as he was making rounds and notified him something was wrong with the building, according to Reuters.
"I was hearing popping noises and I was hearing people screaming and glass breaking. The building actually twisted and separated," Shanley said. "It was like something from a movie."
Shanley reportedly went into the collapsing building with a master key, opening doors and warning guests of the danger.
Resort president Caldwell praised Shanley for his actions and not waiting for authorization before starting evacuation procedures.
"Had he not acted on his own we are confident there could have been many people trapped in that building," Caldwell said.