A sinkhole 20 feet deep and 15 feet wide swallowed a front yard in the town of Unicoi, and it could get even bigger.
"If you were standing there when that sink hole occurred-- it's like a vacuum cleaner effect-- you would be sucked down with it," county road superintendent Terry Haynes told WCYB.
This sinkhole may stem from another. Around the corner, a similar sinkhole appeared several years ago.
"Back four or five years ago, I filled a sinkhole right above the new one. This latest one may have been caused by the big one we had before," said Haynes.
The previous sinkhole cost the town more than $40,000 to repair. Mayor Johnny Lynch says because the new hole encroaches into the roadway, the town is once again partially responsible for repairs.
"It is a fairly expensive ordeal when you have to deal with these things," said Mayor Lynch.
Haynes says limestone may be at the root of the cause of the sinkholes.
"Limestone tends to have caverns in it. All those homes near the sinkhole are built on limestone," said Haynes.
The town is working on surveying the damage to take the right steps to move ahead with repairs.