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Sinkhole In Hudson, Florida, Destroys Susan Minutillo's Home While Woman Runs Errands (PHOTOS/VIDEO)

WATCH: Sinkhole Destroys Home While Woman Runs Errands
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When 79-year-old Susan Minutillo left her home in Hudson, Florida, on Thursday morning to run an errand for a friend, she didn't expect to return and find half her home destroyed. Not that she should have.

A sinkhole appeared under her house at 3 p.m., and a mere 45 minutes later, writes the Tampa Bay Times, half the dwelling had been swallowed by the earth.

Adding insult to injury, WFTS reports that Minutillo had recently hired a crew to evaluate her property for sinkholes. Workers were at her house for exactly that purpose as the structure started to collapse.

"You just look over there and the whole back end of the house flipped down into the hole," said Minutillo's neighbor, Mike Richards, to Fox 13.

Bay News 9 describes the chasm as 40 feet wide and 20 feet deep. Large enough for officials to justify condemning the property, and to put neighbors' homes at risk.

Much of Florida rests on limestone, a porous rock easily eroded by acidic rainwater. Drought-like conditions in the state have aggravated the problem in recent years, as dropping aquifer levels leave behind unstable "voids." When heavy rains cause water to flow back into those voids, explains the Department of Environmental Protection, the rock may become unstable and collapse into a sinkhole.

PHOTOS of other sinkholes around the world:

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Before You Go

Sinkholes Around The World
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A car sits in a giant sinkhole in Duluth, Minn. Wednesday, June 20, 2011. Residents evacuated their homes and animals escaped from pens at a zoo as floods fed by a steady torrential downpour struck northeastern Minnesota, inundating the city of Duluth, officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Brian Peterson) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUT (credit:AP)
(02 of14)
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A car fell into a huge sinkhole in Duluth, Minn. on Wednesday, June 20, 2012. Duluth Mayor Don Ness said he would declare a state of emergency after the deluge of up to 9 inches of rain that he said caused extensive damage to the port city of about 86,000. Ness said the order would start the process to obtain federal aid. Gov. Mark Dayton said he would travel to Duluth on Thursday to discuss how the state can help. (AP Photo/The Duluth News-Tribune, Bob King) (credit:AP)
(03 of14)
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In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, villagers walk past a sinkhole in Tanluo Village of Nanning City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Saturday, June 2, 2012. More than 800 villagers have been evacuated after land sank in the province Friday, which is known for its karst topography. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Zhou Hua) NO SALES (credit:AP)
(04 of14)
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A home sits near a sinkhole, about 100-feet wide and 50-feet deep, Saturday, May 5, 2012, in Windermere, Fla. The family was forced to evacuate the home. (AP Photo/John Raoux) (credit:AP)
(05 of14)
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In a Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011 photo, a gaping sinkhole has opened in the bottom of a pool at the home of Brad Thelen in Erwin, Tenn., draining the family's swimming pool. Thelen said the noise of the sinkhole opening under the in-ground pool awakened his wife Chemene on Wednesday night, according to The Johnson City Press. By Thursday evening, it had tripled in size and was not far from the Thelans' home. The family removed valuables and was staying with relatives until the sinkhole stabilized. (AP Photo/Johnson City Press, Tony Duncan) MANDATORY CREDIT (credit:AP)
A man inspectas a sinkhole formed in a h(06 of14)
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A man inspectas a sinkhole formed in a house on July 19, 2011 in the north of Guatemala City. When neighbors heard the loud boom overnight they thought a cooking gas canister had detonated. Instead they found a deep sinkhole the size of a large pot inside a home in a neighborhood just north of Guatemala City. The sinkhole was 12.2 meters (40 feet) deep and 80 centimeters (32 inches) in diameter, an AFP journalist who visited the site reported. Police, members of the country's natural disaster office and water utility company officials came to visit the site. Sinkholes, formed by the natural process of erosion, can be gradual but are often sudden. Guatemala City, built on volcanic deposits, is especially prone to sinkholes, often blamed on a leaky sewer system or on heavy rain. AFP PHOTO / Johan ORDONEZ (Photo credit should read JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
A man inspects a sinkhole inside a hous(07 of14)
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A man inspects a sinkhole inside a house on July 19, 2011 north of Guatemala City. When neighbors heard the loud boom overnight they thought a cooking gas canister had detonated. Instead they found a deep sinkhole the size of a large pot inside a home in a neighborhood just north of Guatemala City. The sinkhole was 12.2 meters (40 feet) deep and 80 centimeters (32 inches) in diameter, an AFP journalist who visited the site reported. Police, members of the country's natural disaster office and water utility company officials came to visit the site. Sinkholes, formed by the natural process of erosion, can be gradual but are often sudden. Guatemala City, built on volcanic deposits, is especially prone to sinkholes, often blamed on a leaky sewer system or on heavy rain. AFP PHOTO / Johan ORDONEZ (Photo credit should read JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
Workers use excavators to fill in a sink(08 of14)
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Workers use excavators to fill in a sinkhole which occured overnight on Shiliuzhuang road, in Beijing on April 26, 2011. A section of the road collapsed beneath a truck, slightly injuring the driver and a passenger, who both jumped out the vehicle beforeit sank into the hole, as an authoritiy suspects the hole was caused by the construction of a subway line. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
A truck lies in a sinkhole which occured(09 of14)
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A truck lies in a sinkhole which occured overnight on Shiliuzhuang road, in Beijing on April 26, 2011. A section of the road collapsed beneath a truck, slightly injuring the driver and a passenger, who both jumped out the vehicle beforeit sank into the hole, as an authoritiy suspects the hole was caused by the construction of a subway line. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
Sink Hole Swallows Car In Chevy Chase, Maryland(10 of14)
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CHEVY CHASE, MD - DECEMBER 3: A car sits in a sinkhole caused by a broken water main, which collapsed part of Friendship Blvd. on December 3, 2010 in Chevy Chase, Maryland. No one was reported injured in the accident. (Photo by Logan Mock-Bunting/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
Fire Truck Trapped In Giant Sinkhole(11 of14)
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LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 8: A 22-ton Los Angeles Fire Department fire truck protrudes from a sinkhole on September 8, 2009 in the Valley Village neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Firefighters were dispatched to investigate an early morning call about flooding on a residential street when the driver saw a large amount of water in the darkness. The driver was backing up when the truck fell into the sinkhole, apparently caused by a broken 6-inch cast iron pipe. The firefighters were not hurt in the accident. Officials have not yet determined if the break is related to a broken 95-year-old 64-inch pipe in neighboring Studio city. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY JOSEPH KRAUSS A(12 of14)
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TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY JOSEPH KRAUSS A sinkhole caused by the opening of cavernous is seen near the Ein Gedi Spa on the shores of the Dead Sea on September 10, 2008. As Israeli holidaymakers watch the Dead Sea retreating, leaving massive sinkholes in its wake, Palestinian farmers farther up the valley pry crops from increasingly parched soil. The Jordan Valley is in the grip of a severe water crisis, exacerbated by the region's various conflicts, that threatens the livelihoods of its Israeli and Arab residents. And it is transforming the landscape before their eyes. AFP PHOTO/JONATHAN NACKSTRAND (Photo credit should read JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
Landslide Creates Large Sinkhole Near San Diego(13 of14)
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LA JOLLA, CA - OCTOBER 3: A massive 200' x 240' landslide opens up and tears apart the pavement of Soledad Mountain Road, October 3, 2007 in the Mount Soledad neighborhood of La Jolla near San Diego, California. The landslide has damaged or destroyed reportedly 6 homes and forced the evacuation of at least 20 others. (Photo by Kent Horner/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
Landslide Creates Large Sinkhole Near San Diego(14 of14)
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LA JOLLA, CA - OCTOBER 3: A massive, approximately 200' x 240', sinkhole opens up and tears apart the pavement of Soledad Mountain Road, October 3, 2007 in the Mount Soledad neighborhood of La Jolla near San Diego, California. The landslide has damaged or destroyed reportedly 6 homes and forced the evacuation of at least 20 others. (Photo by Kent Horner/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
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