Sinkhole risk in Hernando County, FL: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 98%
At or near the surface: 39%
Buried under cover: 59%

The next step for one property

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

Standard Florida homeowners policies cover only catastrophic ground cover collapse; full sinkhole coverage is a separately priced option insurers must offer.

That works out to roughly 465 of Hernando County's 473 square miles on soluble rock, 184 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 218,150 residents (461 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 287 map points about 1.3 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Hernando County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Sumter County, FL, about 30 miles east, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Pasco County, FL 17 mi south · 18% at surface
Citrus County, FL 21 mi north · 48% at surface
Sumter County, FL 30 mi east · 59% at surface
Hillsborough County, FL 47 mi south · 29% at surface
Pinellas County, FL 48 mi south · 35% at surface
Lake County, FL 51 mi east · under 1% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Suwannee Limestone (limestone), Eocene in age, covering about 49% of the county. Next is the Ocala Limestone at 25%.

The county also lies over the Floridan shelf, a deep salt or gypsum basin. Deep beds rarely cause surface collapse on their own, but wells and mining into them have.

Against the rest of Florida

Hernando County ranks 38 of 67 in Florida for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 83% of US counties on that measure.