A sinkhole in Seffner, Florida, that swallowed part of a house and killed a man in 2013 reopened Monday, the third time the sinkhole has appeared.

After the 2013 fatality, Hillsborough County officials fenced off the house lot to keep people away. The Seffner sinkhole reopened in 2015, after which it was filled in with a mixture of water and gravel.

County officials plan to fill in the hole with that same mixture and indicated no other homes were at risk. The sinkhole stretches 19 by 16 feet and goes 19 feet deep.

Sinkholes are common in Florida, which has a porous limestone bedrock that lets groundwater filter through and erodes the rock. When sediment on top of the rock gets too heavy for the weakened rock layer, the limestone caves in and creates sinkholes.

Jeremy Bush, whose brother Jeffrey died when the hole first appeared in 2013 and swallowed their house, told Tampa Fox affiliate WTVT, “I live this nightmare every day. Every day. I have a hard time sleeping. It’s just rough. Just let him be. His final resting place was that [sinkhole]. It just keeps opening up, and they keep adding more dirt on top of them. It is sad to me.”

John-Paul Lavandeira with Hillsborough County code enforcement explained at a press conference that the recurrence of the sinkhole was natural.

“This is something that is out of all of our control. This is a Mother Nature thing. This isn’t a man-made scenario, but we do have a plan in place. We have the right experts in place. This is under control. There is a reason why there are double fences where this thing is,” Mr. Lavandeira said.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.