End Times and Current Events

http://www.klfy.com/story/19197875/sinkhole-in-assumption-parish

8/4/12

For more than two months, officials from federal to local have been unable to pin down the source of a natural gas leak and tremors in assumption parish.
 
But on Thursday a 200 by 200 foot "slurry area" has appeared in bayou corne in northern assumption parish...
 
The formation of the slurry area was accompanied by a diesel-like odor that some residents said burned their eyes and noses but dissipated by midmorning Friday...
 
Assumption parish officials declared an emergency and called for an evacuation of residents living near the nearly 1-acre muddy site.
 
A potential failure of a cavern operated by Texas brine company may have caused the slurry area, or sinkhole, which swallowed full-grown trees and denuded a formerly forested patch of cypress swamp.
 
Final determination of a positive link between the failure of the cavern and either the natural gas bubbling or the slurry area has not been made.
 
In response, gov. bobby jindal declared an emergency Friday.

End Time Current Events: 8-28-12

Isaac shifts toward sinkhole, ‘extremely dangerous,’ Mobile Command demobilizes
http://contendingfortruth.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2c287b20028afcd000ebd3a43&id=d6bc428b67&e=519a57450a

Sinkhole in Isaac Hurricane Watch 15-parish zone: 'Start voluntary evacuation'
http://contendingfortruth.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2c287b20028afcd000ebd3a43&id=783324eaeb&e=519a57450a

Officials to sinkhole evacuees: Go home, report new cracks, sinking
http://contendingfortruth.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2c287b20028afcd000ebd3a43&id=9149b95f54&e=519a57450a

Sinkhole engineer: Little can be done if cavern is fractured
http://contendingfortruth.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2c287b20028afcd000ebd3a43&id=6fc84eab84&e=519a57450a

Sinkhole in Isaac's 'cone of uncertainty,' 63 miles from Gulf
http://contendingfortruth.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2c287b20028afcd000ebd3a43&id=7c3e2b3cf5&e=519a57450a

Sinkhole radiation 15 times over limit, residents urged to record health signs
http://contendingfortruth.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=2c287b20028afcd000ebd3a43&id=602ba64eae&e=519a57450a

Sinkhole prompts Homeland Security oversight, extra explosive unit staff
http://contendingfortruth.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=2c287b20028afcd000ebd3a43&id=a31e57df89&e=519a57450a

Monster sinkhole swallows boat, 50 more feet: Workers rescued, work halts
http://contendingfortruth.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2c287b20028afcd000ebd3a43&id=1d641f1138&e=519a57450a

Officials: Sinkhole butane explosion possible
http://contendingfortruth.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2c287b20028afcd000ebd3a43&id=f6a500c211&e=519a57450a

Louisiana sinkhole: Butane well company's worst-case scenario report required
http://contendingfortruth.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2c287b20028afcd000ebd3a43&id=188cc4be30&e=519a57450a

Louisiana sinkhole local sheds light inside mystery disaster area
http://contendingfortruth.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2c287b20028afcd000ebd3a43&id=ac1fe671ed&e=519a57450a

Sinkhole: H-Bomb explosion equivalent in Bayou Corne possible
http://contendingfortruth.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=2c287b20028afcd000ebd3a43&id=0bba10f6fd&e=519a57450a

Gov. Jindal’s DNR official resigns amid Sinkhole Disaster, State of Emergency
http://contendingfortruth.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=2c287b20028afcd000ebd3a43&id=db9a8bf7a2&e=519a57450a

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http://www.examiner.com/article/sinkhole-grows-400-feet-gas-pressure-too-great-for-drillers

Sinkhole grows 400 feet, gas pressure too great for drillers

9/19/12

Along with both increased seismic activity and gas bubbling sites in recent days, Assumption Parish officials reported Tuesday that the Bayou Corne, Louisiana sinkhole has grown 400 square feet, according to Texas Brine LLC, as the drillers found they were unable to set the exploratory well due to the gas pressure, and evacuees learn that they might be unable to return home for a year.
 
Tuesday, Assumption Parish officials reported, "Texas Brine reported a 20′ x 20′ growth of the sinkhole."

View slideshow: Louisiana sinkhole flyover screenshots 9.18.12 showing 400 foot growth since last flyover
 
The expanding sinkhole covers part of the massive 1-mile by 3-mile Napoleonville Salt Dome used by oil and gas companies to store and supply hydrocarbons and brine to nearby refineries in the nation's area known as Cancer Alley.

more

http://www.wwl.com/Sinkhole-grows--hits-Assumption-business-and-home-/14373381

9/30/12

Sinkhole grows, hits Assumption business and home values


The sinkhole in Assumption Parish keeps getting bigger.

 The parish's director of homeland security and emergency preparedness, John Boudreaux, says a 15-hundred square foot section of the earth caved in last week, pulling down several trees and part of a road.
 
The road that caved in was built to assist in the cleanup efforts. The sinkhole is about four acres in size and has grown since it emerged on August third.
 
150 homes in two nearby communities are evacuated as a result of the sinkhole.
 
Experts believe an underground brine cavern encased in a salt dome could be the cause of the sink hole. Sonar testing inside the cavern began a few days ago.
 
Boudreaux says an unknown substance was found at the bottom of the cavern. "The substance could be soil and sand that now has entered the cavern that created the sinkhole."
 
Scientists are still trying to determine precisely why the hole appeared.
 
Residents and businesses in the area are growing increasingly concerned that it may swallow up their investments.
 
 The hole filled with sludge and muck as it swallowed hundreds of yards of swampland.
   
Area residents have been worried not only by tremors, possibly caused by natural gas shifting underground in or near the dome, but also by concerns the value of their homes and business could suffer.
 

http://www.stuarthsmith.com/fears-of-methane-explosion-rise-in-sinkhole-ravaged-la-town/

Fears of methane explosion rise in sinkhole-ravaged La. town

10/8/12

The people of Bayou Corne have been through a lot. It started this summer when residents of the small bayou community about 70 miles west of New Orleans began feeling tremors and reporting foul odors. Then in August, a large sinkhole — near the site of a cavern that has long been mined by the Texas Brine Co. — threatened the town and forced evacuations. And the news keeps getting worse: Now officials are warning the residents of a powerful buildup of methane gas under Bayou Corne that could cause a massive explosion:
 
An as-yet undetermined amount of natural gas is trapped in the aquifer underneath the Bayou Corne community, state and parish officials have said.
 
The area has been rattled by earth tremors, has waterways with gas bubbling to the surface, and is in the vicinity of a 4-acre sinkhole south of La. 70 that has grown larger since its emergence Aug. 3. Bayou Corne’s 150 households have been evacuated since the sinkhole appeared just off the edge of the Napoleonville Dome, a 1-mile-by-3-mile underground salt deposit.
 
Local officials have told the Advocate they’re very concerned that the odorless and colorless gas is accumulating to the point where it could burst through the ground with explosive force:
 
Once the pressure in the aquifer reaches a pressure greater than 75 to 85 pounds per square inch, the clay layer might not be able to hold back the accumulated gas, according to Boudreaux and geologists.
 
“And then it could be a problem because you do not know where the weak point would be until after it has already done its thing,” Boudreaux said.
 
This alarming news comes amid news reports that tremors are now being felt in a wide area across the bayou. This happened late last week, roughly 45 miles from Bayou Corne:
 

Nobody quite knows what caused the ground in some parts of Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes to shake, but it certainly has people talking.
 
A little before 2 p.m. Wednesday, reports began flooding in to officials of tremors accompanied by a loud noise. The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office and Office of Emergency Preparedness received reports, but nobody has been able to narrow down a cause.
 
Lockport resident Bryan Comardelle had just sat down to watch television when he felt the rumble.
 
“It was just a sudden vibration,” Comardelle said. “I live in a brick house, and it even made it shake.”
 
Indeed, there’s also mounting reports of methane bubbling up from underground throughout the region:
 
Methane bubbles have been emerging in the sinkhole vicinity for four months. There are now seventeen bubble sites percolating in the sinkhole vicinity. As far as 80 miles west, at Lake Peigneur, gas bubbling has also increased. A resident who has lived and fished in the sinkhole area for decades has reported that the entire 1-mile by 3-mile Napoleonville Salt Dome area has been sinking.
 
Some scientists believe the sinkhole was caused when a subterranean brine cavern in the 1-mile by 3-mile Napoleonville Salt Dome collapsed. The breached cavern floor, storing radioactive materials and brine, is over 1,000 feet underground. The bottom is now leaking hydrocarbons into the cavern. Other scientists say some other powerful force has caused the cavern to breach, the seismic activity and escaping gas.
 
This is an incredibly dangerous situation in the Louisiana bayou. Just ask the residents of Hutchinson, Kansas, where in 2001 an underground buildup of methane caused a serious of explosions that killed two people and destroyed several stores in a downtown area. (In that case, the methane came from an untapped brine well under a department store.) In 2003, a methane leak in Louisiana from the Napoleanville dome caused 50 residents to evacuate their homes for weeks.
 
In Bayou Corne, workers began this weekend drilling three vent wells. This may eventually relieve some of the pressure — but the mental pressure and anguish for those who own homes in the community must be hard to take. It didn’t have to be this way. State and Texas Brine officials knew about potential problems at the dome more than a year and a half ago, and the state Department of Environmental Quality was painfully slow to respond to the first reports of tremors and bubbling gases this summer. Let’s pray that the efforts to reduce the pressure are not too little — or too late.

New Madrid Mega Quake Tied To Sinkhole: Perhaps Imminent? Man Made Or An Act Of God?
 
Thursday, October 11, 2012 9:52

Over the years they have been filling a nearby salt dome in Assumption, Parish, Louisiana with radioactive waste and 1.5 million barrels of liquid Butane. If this sinkhole continues to devour land and trees in this area, it may eventually breach this storage area releasing not only toxic radiation into the environment, but also butane which will then become exposed to the air above. All it would take then would be the spark from a car ignition or some other source of fire to set in motion an explosion which some suggest could be equivalent to about 100 nuclear bombs similar to those used on Nagasaki or Hiroshima, in Japan. As bad as all of that would be, there is something even worse that could come from this.
 
An explosion on that magnitude would create a giant crater deep in the earth exposing this salt dome to the elements. Since this salt dome is also connected to the much larger Luann salt basin, that means water from the bayou will trickle down and quickly become a torrent of water to dissolve the salt in areas covering 5 states, up to a mile thick. As the salt dome looses integrity, all of those deep oil wells will become funnels to either blow out or pull more water into the cavity. When that finally collapses, ALL of Louisiana will sink into the Gulf of Mexico. Parts of Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida will also be underwater. The salt dome under the Texas gulf will also collapse, sending a huge tsunami tidal wave as far inland as the Balcones Escarpment. Cities like Houston and New Orleans will sink into the ocean, never to be seen again. Cities like Fort Worth, Dallas, Waco, Austin, and San Antonio will also be flooded, but might be restored as the tidal wave recedes.
 
The New Madrid fault and Mississippi river basin is being targeted with HAARP, fracking tech drilling operations, and possibly other means (such as nuclear explosions). They are planning to create an earthquake in that region to split this nation with an inland sea from Chicago to New Orleans. It will not be an “act of God.”.

http://beforeitsnews.com/prophecy/2012/10/new-madrid-mega-quake-tied-to-sinkhole-perhaps-imminent-man-made-or-an-act-of-god-2442400.html

http://www.examiner.com/article/la-sinkhole-was-predicted-grows-500-square-feet-larger-after-seismic-activity

La. sinkhole was predicted, grows 500 square feet larger after seismic activity

Louisiana's giant sinkhole in Assumption Parish expanded 500 square feet Tuesday morning, according to officials. Earlier Tuesday, amid debating whether earthquakes caused the nearby breached salt cavern to fail, extra seismic activity was recorded, according to USGS monitors observed by this reporter, also noting that in 2010, experts foretold a methane crisis, one saying a methane-caused sinkhole could result from BP's oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico.
 
"A 10′ x 50′ foot slough in of (sic) the sinkhole on the SW side (towards the pipeline right-of-way, the 50′ is along the embankment of the hole)," Assumption Parish officials reported Tuesday, Oct. 9.

View slideshow: Bayou Corne, Louisiana methane & earthquake sinkhole disaster on Oct. 11, 2012
 
Five trees along with more land were lost during during what officials call another "slough in," and "Clean up has been halted until further notice," the officials said.

The slough-in occurred around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to parish officials on their blog post.

A sharp increase of seismic activity began in the sinkhole area near Hwy. La. 70 in Belle Rose, Louisiana just before 7:00 a.m. Tuesday, according to USGS LA09 and LA03 monitors, two of six monitors placed in the area since the Bayou Corne sinkhole disaster was officially recognized.
 
The monitors were placed in the Bayou Corne and Belle Rose sinkhole vicinity by USGS-contracted University of Memphis seismologists on the sinkhole expert team of scientists.
 
Dr. Stephen Horton, a seismologist at University of Memphis on the expert team, told Dupré in a recent telephone conversation that heavy equipment and trucks used at the sinkhole site could cause monitors to show extra activity. He had previously explained that, to avoid misreadings, the monitors were placed away from where the equipment is being used and away from heavy trucks traversing the highway.

One monitor showing extra seismic activity, LA03, is south of the sinkhole. The other monitor, LA09, is due west of the sinkhole, as designated on the USGS Helicorder Map.
 
In the vicinity of the sinkhole, the DNR vent/relief well is north of La. 70 South, east of the most populated portion of the Bayou Corne community, while the Texas Brine LLC's boring is south of La. Hwy. 70, reports the Advocate.
 
Last week, mysterious tremors were experienced and reported 45 miles south of the sinkhole. There were no monitors there, just as Dr. Horton told Dupré last week that there are no such monitors in Pierre Part where locals have reported feeling tremors.
 
Clara McCrea, a Bayou Corne sinkhole disaster news reader, commented Tuesday that "no monitors means [w]e didn't see it coming and therefor[e] couldn't have warned the people!"
 
Sinkhole, methane catastrophe predicted in 2010
 
The latest oil incident of BP's Gulf catastrophic event and possible fissures or sea cracks in the Macondo Prospect is "exactly" what attorney Stuart Smith warned in 2010: "that the rig disaster, caused by BP’s reckless and foolish actions, would continue to wreak havoc on the Gulf environment for years to come," Smith said last week.
 
Smith has said that he believed the BP "capped" well was breached, as documented in the film, The Big Fix.
 
Smith is not the only expert who has warned about BP's "capping" of the Macondo Prospect well in the Gulf of Mexico and that the BP Gulf catastrophe would wreak havoc far inland as time passes.
 
Internationally recognized oil expert, the late Matt Simmons had said that the entire BP capping of the well was a sham and scientists had then expressed concern that a newly admitted seep and possible methane seen near BP’s well in the Gulf of Mexico were signs of leaks in the well "capped."

On July 18, 2010, Dupré reported: "When MSNBC Host Dylan Ratigan asked Simmons, 'What do you know about this cap Matt?', Simmons replied, 'The whole thing is just absurd.'
 
Simmons told Ratigan, "It's time to stop deceiving the public."

He also said, "If [BP] acknowledged it, they'd go to jail."
 
"This world authority on oil stated (as reported in the Washington Post) all states in the Gulf Coast region must be evacuated, 6 million people, and that the story is 80 times worse than what he'd thought," Dupré reported on June 27, 2010.
 
At the time, "TIME added the discrediting note that Simmons has been a doomsday reporter on the BP Gulf crisis since it occurred."
 
"There is no way BP would not know they were misleading everyone," Simmons had said.
 
"They would have to be deaf, dumb, and blind and they're not. These are smart guys."
 


Simmons repeatedly explained, contradictory to mainstream news and TV, "the real blowout as an open hole gushing 120,000 barrels of toxic crude every day below the surface of the Gulf six or seven miles away from the riser. And BP is ignoring it."
 


He had also said, "Any other company would have fessed up right away and called this what it was: a tragedy and a national emergency."
 


One week before his untimely death, Simmons explained at a community meeting in Camden, Maine, as reported by this reporter, "as oil reaches the upper layer of the Gulf waters, its heavy toxicity will be released, and as it comes ashore over the coming months, people still in the region will be more impacted than they already are."
 


"There will be a heavy toll on human life, according to world renowned oil industry expert and whistleblower," Dupré reported on July 16, 2010.



The oil insider had told the people at that Camden meeting that the worst effects on human health was yet to come.
 


"BP confirmed May 21 that the well is leaking methane, which sparked fears. An earlier BP probe also concluded that a methane bubble created the initial blowout of the wellhead in April," reported Gulf Breeze News.
 


Over two years ago, after BP's Deepwater Horizon catastrophe began, scientists observed that methane concentrations in the Gulf were up to 10,000 times higher than normal and also, corresponding oxygen depletion levels.
 
After two months of residents in the Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou communities experiencing and reporting methane gas bubbles and tremors, the parish requested the assistance of USGS in determining locations and probable cause(s) for this seismic activity.

"USGS immediately detected seismic activity through their monitors and began recording this data; however, no probable cause was able to be detected," officials say.
 
According to USGS data of former activity in the area after the reports were filed, thousands of earthquakes had occurred, as Dr. Horton told Dupré.
 
Before seismic monitoring started, when questioned about Bayou Corne tremor, DNR officials noted "a 4.2 temblor and the role of ongoing subsidence in Louisiana," according to the Advocate.
 
Asked if it is confirmed that failure of the Texas Brine cavern caused the sinkhole, geologist with Shaw Environmental, Gary Hecox said “All the data we’ve looked at so far would lead you to that conclusion, yes.”
 
What caused the cavern to fail and cause the sinkhole, however, is still in question by officials and locals.
 
The “USGS consensus” is that the seismic activity was the result of the cavern collapse, not the cause of it, DNR reported.
 
The ongoing April 2010 BP oil catastrophe in the Gulf possible link to the sinkhole intensified recently with more news about the company having likely breached the Gulf of Mexico ocean floor and that fissures or cracks are leaking methane and oil.
 
In 2010, USA Today reported startling findings of a June study conducted by ocean chemist John Kessler of Texas A&M University. Kessler and a group of oceanographers from Texas and the University of California-Santa Barbara discovered methane levels in deep-ocean waters near the Macondo Prospect oil well under the exploded Deepwater Horizon oil rig that were 10,000 to 100,000 times higher than normal. The team had determined that gases were coming up from the same geological layer as the oil.
 
Gary Byerly, Professor of Geology at Louisiana State University, said methane and oil leak into the Gulf naturally – explaining that the weight of rock on the seabed usually restricts leaks to a very slow rate.
 
“I could see something like this causing a sinkhole to form,” Byerly said.

Byerly, now head of LSU's Graduate School, had stated at the time that he could not see a methane tsunami forming.
 
Over two years later, methane gas increasingly percolates in south Louisiana's sinkhole area swamplands and was recently found in the aquifer above the 1-mile by 3-mile Napoleonville Salt Dome farther east and deeper underground in the dome’s hard cap rock, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials said. DNR then ordered the Napoleonville Salt Dome’s seven operators to locate and vent or flare any gas. Flaring is to begin Friday.
 
The sinkhole in south Louisiana's methane-bubbling swampland has grown to over four acres since it first developed on Aug. 3. The hole occurred after thousands of earthquakes, that USGS prefers to call "tremors," occurred in the vicinity, according to Horton on the telephone with Dupré.
 
The expanding sinkhole is now 449 feet at its deepest point, according to Texas Brine LLC. of Houston on Wednesday.
 
Texas Brine asserted in a written statement late on Sept. 24 that regional earthquakes damaged its salt cavern in the Bayou Corne area of Assumption Parish.
 
"Less than 12 hours after that 10:31 p.m. news release, the company was on the receiving end of a vigorous response from Louisiana Department of Natural Resources and parish officials to rebut the claim that the cavern failure was caused by natural causes and also to call on Texas Brine to back up its claim," the Advocate reported Wednesday.
 
(See the slideshow above showing the size and the cross section of the depth of the sinkhole.)
 
Within hours of the latest slough-in Tuesday, the Assumption Parish Waterworks advised parish officials that a main water line break occurred along Highway 70 that runs alongside the sinkhole.
 
"They are working to restore water to the area. This situation should be resolved within the hour," officials stated.
 
Some of the Bayou Corne community evacuated after a mandatory evacuation was ordered following the sinkhole discovery on Aug. 3. The DNR scientists suspected an abandoned Texas Brine salt cavern had failed and caused the sinkhole.
 
A petition, now signed by over 150 people from across the nation concerned about the health and safety of hundreds of people not in the present evacuation area, requests that Gov. Bobby Jindal expand the mandatory evacuation order, as the sinkhole has expanded, fears of an explosion mount, and chemicals in the vicinity are linked to over 80 people to report health symptoms that are typical of chemical poisoning.
 
Such chemicals have a cumulative effect, according to environmentalist and award-winning human rights defender Dr. Wilma Subra.
 
Two rules of thumb that doctors and toxicologists responding to the BP Gulf oil catastrophe have advised are: "If you smell it, you've been poisoned," and "There is no safe level of toxins."

Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN), a non-government organization, is urging Assumption Parish residents to record every time an odor is smelled by using its Odor and Symptom Log that the organization is providing at no coast, so that Dr. Subra can analyze the data and continue to effectively assist.
 
Dr. Subra said Wednesday that activities related to the failed cavern in Napoleonville Salt Dome, the sinkhole and the natural gas in the aquifer could continue resulting in health impacts.
 
Last week, Dr. Raoult Ratard, State Epidemiologist with Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Office (DHH) of Public Health, sent an environmental data report of the Bayou Corne oil and gas sinkhole event to Assumption Parish President Martin S. Triche, stating that methane, detected in the area industrial water wells, presents a potential health risk, a "Type 2 of fire/explosion.”
 
In that report, Dr. Ratard encouraged local residents to "heed the evacuation orders issued."

After Sinkhole Flyover: Strongest odor I have ever experienced in all my time in Louisiana — Intense petroleum fumes hovering directly over community

Yesterday, October 11, 2012, photographer Jeffrey Dubinsky took a flight for LEAN [Louisiana Environmental Action Network] and LMRK [Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper] over the Bayou Corne sinkhole. After the flight, which was generously provided by Southwings, Jeffrey commented on the intense petroleum fumes experienced while flying over the sinkhole area.

“I will say the odor was the heaviest and strongest I have ever experienced in all my time in Louisiana. Perhaps even worse still was that the odor was hovering directly over the community… I have no idea whatsoever how the workers can tolerate being anywhere near it.”

There is no doubt that the fumes from the sinkhole and bubbling natural gas in the surrounding area have been impacting the community. Local residents have documented this along with their potentially related health symptoms through the Odor and Symptom Log available online here. [...]

http://enenews.com/after-flight-over-sinkhole-strongest-odor-i-have-ever-experienced-in-all-my-time-in-louisiana-intense-petroleum-fumes-hovering-directly-over-community

http://beforeitsnews.com/energy/2012/10/warning-generators-for-new-orleans-what-is-this-all-about-sinkhole-hurricane-fema-prepping-for-something-2444664.html

Warning?! Generators For New Orleans: What Is This All About? Sinkhole? Hurricane? FEMA? Prepping For Something!
Sunday, October 14, 2012 14:21

Below you’ll see a video of a Home Depot store in Panama City, Florida, where an awful lot of generators are all lined up and ready to be shipped to New Orleans. What in the world are they preparing for? Do you think that this is something completely normal or is this preparation for a sinkhole disaster, an EMP or something else? This certainly does seem a bit strange to me though I guess it could all be quite normal. I decided to call a few Home Depot stores and check myself and I was informed that generally, three to four generators are kept in stock. Maybe this Panama City, Florida store has a glut of generators and all of these are overstock being shipped to the New Orleans’ Home Depot stores in case of another hurricane. What do you think?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qiznFvCbzOY#t=27s

This video was taken on 10/06/2012 at the Panama City, FL Home Depot. This Home Depot was a temporary drop off location of many generators that are destined for New Orleans. It was uncertain if they are stocking up for an upcoming emergency, such as the sinkhole.

Hmm, that's interesting. Date of the video is important, seeing we have no current major diaster situation in the country. Pre-staging of supplies? They should be doing that already. If the store was a drop off point, then that sounds like part of the national emergency system where certain businesses are "partners" in operations. It's over at PPF I'm sure. Some government emergency system that ties private with public efforts. LIke the security system that exists for businesses and wealthy families where they come get you, whereever you are, and take you to a safe location for a very expensive fee. Something "...Guard"?

One aspect of all those companies being part of that fed system is that they would be held to the system, which I suspect would include security measures to protect supply lines and storage depots. That means tehy wouldn't be allowed to divulge what they are doing to the general public If the public found out where the supplies are, they'd get overrun in hours, so they would need to keep quite about that stuff.

So the government gets companies to help them take countrol of supplies, leaving the public to depend on if and when the government decides to doll out "emergency supplies" for "disaster relief".

http://www.examiner.com/article/la-sinkhole-methane-caused-minden-explosions-is-possibility-physicists-say?fb_comment_id=fbc_474648675891363_5601270_474655099224054#f310efed41d1944


La. sinkhole methane caused Minden explosions is possibility physicists say
October 19, 2012

At least ten powerful explosions Monday night at Camp Minden after a meteor shower have raised many questions, including whether Louisiana's sinkhole area aquifer explosive-level methane could have traveled north where hit by a meteorite causing the blasts, a possibility according to a physicist and an astrophysicist interviewed by Deborah Dupré Friday. Heavier meteor showers are predicted this weekend.
 
"If there is enough methane in the air, just about anything (like a rock hitting another rock, causing a spark) could ignite explosions," physicist Steve Knudsen said in an email Friday.
 
While some believe Monday night's explosions could not have been caused by a meteorite because the objects are cold when they reach Earth, Knudsen and chair of West Virginia University Department of Astrophysics Dr. Duncan Lorimer refute that.
 
"Meteors burn up up but meteorites hit the ground and are hot on impact," Dr. Lorimer told Dupré Friday in a separate email.
 
"Depending on the size of the meteor, it would not necessarily be cold by the time it hits the earth," explained Knuden.

"

• f course, they have sufficient energy to heat up and burn in the atmosphere, so if there is any methane there then that could happen," replied Lorimer, after asked if a meteor's impact on methane in Louisiana could cause an explosion.

The "Camp Minden" explosion was felt in three states, in communities including Lake Bisteneau community that was particularly hard hit by the blasts.
 
According to a Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality map, Lake Bisteneau is part of the same water system as the sinkhole area where methane has reached explosive level and is life-threatening, according to officials.
 
A meteor hitting methane could have caused the Camp Minden explosions, but authorities have not publicly released this critically important information. The heaviest of meteorite showers are predicted this weekend.
 
“Questions are still being asked as to why did it take authorities so long to identify that an explosion had occurred on the post,” asks Rod White, reporting for KTBS on Wednesday.
 
Monday night, Oct. 15, around 11:26 pm, a large explosion felt in three states occurred in Louisiana's Webster Parish, reportedly approximately 4 miles southwest of Minden, 28 miles east of Shreveport. The initial event reportedly occurred at Latitude/Longitude 35.578 N, -93.351 W, in the borders of Camp Minden Army ammunition plant. Large flashes had been previously observed, citizens were shaken out of beds and windows shattered during the late night hours.
 
The dark or another oil and gas disaster?
 
“Authorities are blaming just the dark for their inability to find the source of that huge explosion," stated White.
 
Matt Harris with Louisiana State Police, Troop "G" says it was like searching for a needle in a haystack to find the origin of the explosion, according to KTBS.
 
"There's no way to visually find it and being that it was dark and foggy you couldn't really find a smoke cloud," Harris said.
 
Citizens, however, are not buying those explanations. Digging only a little deeper, one sees the connection between north Louisiana's Monday night explosion area and south Louisiana's sinkhole area: The areas are joined by that water system of interconnected aquifers.

"Some reports say it was a ammunition bunker explosion, others say a meteor hit, other suggest military weapon tests," Examiner reader Ron Bartlett commented Thursday. "[R]egardless, it was a massive explosion with lots of fire and with all this gas in the air, growing sink holes and underground high pressure oil and gas storage caverns - it could have set off of a chain reactions of explosions."
 
Methane is in the Assumption Parish waterways, specifically the aquifer. Only eight days before the “Minden explosion,” on Oct. 8, it was reported that the methane gas pressure had become so high, it had reached an explosive level.
 
John Boudreaux, director of the Assumption Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness has said there are concerns that the gas can build pressure under the clay layer that lies above the aquifer. Once the aquifer reaches a pressure greater than 75 to 85 pounds per square inch, the clay layer might not hold back the accumulated gas, according to Boudreaux and geologists.
 
“And then it could be a problem, because you do not know where the weak point would be until after it has already done its thing,” said Boudreaux.
 
Bartlett is only one of several citizens questioning the sinkhole methane and Camp Minden explosion connection.
 
On the popular Godlike Productions website, Rhonda Yocum wrote what she emailed to Dupré, "I pulled up Google Earth and stuck a pin in Minden, Lake Bistineau, Bayou Corne, and Lake Peigneur. I panned out to see exactly what these places might have in common...

"These 4 places are ALL located on the same aquifer," Keller wrote.

(See Department of Environmental Quality aquifer map above and at http://map.ldeq.org/projects/images/misc/aquisys.jpg
 
"I believe that the methane is traveling up that aquifer (under enormous pressure) and that the meteor which was spotted by numerous people on the night of October 15th, impacted somewhere closer to Lake Bistineau and ignited a methane pocket, causing that massive explosion and percussion wave," Yocum stated. "Residents closer to Lake Bistineau reported more intense damage, pressure wave, shaking.... than those in Minden."
 
“A resident of the Lake Bistineau area reports that it almost shook their house off its foundation,” the News Star reported Tuesday.
 
Sheriff Gary Sexton said that, as he was driving in the Springhill-Cullen area, he saw two flashes from the south -- before the blasts began.
 
“Earlier in the morning, Sexton said there was a 'possibility that a meteor did hit the ground' in the area, but that theory was put to rest with the confirmation of the blast at the Camp Minden bunker,” WAFB reported.
 
Numerous other eyewitness reports explained they saw what appeared to be meteors, with tails, falling before the blasts that occurred just before midnight.
 
“About this time here in Stephens City VA, while walking my dog I had seen what looked like a shooting star - it had a tail- or another star immediately (sic) behind it,” Maria Teresa commented Tuesday on the Examiner. “[If] you blinked, you missed it. I wonder if this is what I had seen. It was redder than a shooting star - or the second object was - just like a flash it was gone…”

“It was after 11, I am sure,” Teresa wrote. “[We} took the dog out for his last walk which we normally do… I had looked up right before it was gone. Don’t know if it means anything, but saw similar sight last night a lot earlier… same type of shooting start but only one - same place in sky - pretty prominent for the sky not to be dark yet,” she stated.
 
New York Daily News says the explosion was caused by military, not a meteorite. It also noted that military is investigating the explosions.

A visible meteorite shower had been predicted this week, peaking this weekend.
 
“A meteor shower spawned by history's most famous comet will peak this weekend,” reports NBC News. “Orionid meteor shower to light up night skies this weekend,” its news article was titled.
 
Could there be more methane explosions in Louisiana this weekend?
 
“The Orionid meteor shower will reach its zenith overnight from Saturday to Sunday as Earth plows through debris shed by Halley's Comet on its path around the sun,” NBC reports. “The most impressive display should come a few hours before dawn Sunday, when our planet hits the densest patch of Halley's detritus.
 
"Flakes of comet dust hitting the atmosphere should give us dozens of meteors per hour," said Bill Cooke, head of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA's Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
 
If meteors struck the nation's oil and gas capital, Louisiana, it is not beyond possibility that the hot materials could ignite methane if the methane is in the air, according to the physicists interviewed.

If a meteor were large enough to penetrate refinery tanks or pipelines, it could cause explosions. The same would occur if a meteor hit a munitions dump, such as the one at Camp Minden that exploded.
 
The Bayou Corne sinkhole disaster "is made all the more worrisome" because of a nearby Crosstex Energy LP's "well containing 1.5 million barrels of liquid butane, a highly volatile liquid that turns into a highly flammable vapor upon release,” CNN has reported. Assumption Parish Sheriff Mike Waguespack said a breach of that well could be "catastrophic.”

Something unexpectedly triggered an emergency flare 40 feet high at that Crosstex well last week. An explosion at that well would be in the range of one and a half B83 thermonuclear (hydrogen) bombs, according to scientists.
 
"This is extremely serious," Kim Torres, spokeswoman for the Office of Emergency Preparedness, told ABCNews.com. "The people are very aware of how serious this is."
 
Aside from a plethora of oil refineries and oil and gas pipelines, Louisiana has two nuclear facilities.
 
The Waterford Steam Electric Station, Unit 3 nuclear facility, also known as Waterford 3, is a power plant on a 3,000-acre (12-km²) plot in Killona, Louisiana near New Orleans, about 50 miles from the Bayou Corne methane bubbling area.
 
River Bend Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power station on a 3,300-acre (13 km2) site near St. Francisville, Louisiana, about 67 miles from the methane-bubbling sinkhole area.
 
Both of Louisiana's nuclear power facilities are located in the same aquifer tainted with methane.
 
Copyright 2012 Deborah Dupré All Rights Reserved

Tremors reported at giant Louisiana sinkhole

10/25/12

BAYOU CORNE, LA (WAFB) -
A sharp tremor was recorded by USGS monitors just after 9 p.m. Wednesday at the site of the giant Louisiana sinkhole in Assumption Parish.

The giant sinkhole appeared in August near the Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou areas.

The Assumption Parish Police Jury says the tremor was large enough that the body wave phases could easily be identified. A body wave travels through the interior of the earth.
 
The preliminary location of the tremor was just SE of Oxy #3 cavern at a depth of 500m.  There is no additional information specific to this seismic activity at this time.
 
The sinkhole is now about four acres in size.

Residents were forced from their homes on August third, two months after the bayous started bubbling. They are still evacuated from their homes.

http://www.examiner.com/article/sinkhole-unprecedented-globally-heed-evacuation-order-geologist-says

Sinkhole unprecedented globally, heed evacuation order, geologist says

The Bayou Corne sinkhole is truly a historical event, unprecedented globally, according to a geologist who addressed a group of residents, evacuees and others Tuesday night in Pierre Part at a briefing high with emotions at times, such as when the mandatory evacuation issue was addressed.
 
"In the history of this type of event, this is very unique,” said Dr. Gary Hecox, geologist with Shaw Environmental stated at the resident meeting Tuesday night. Upset citizens fired one after another question after the officials gave presentation updating the locals with their latest updates about the disaster.
 
“Nobody ever dealt with something like this,” said Hecox, technical advisor with Shaw Environmental Group that has been contracted by Louisiana Department of Natural Resources to help attempt to manage the monster sinkhole, area leaking gases and crude, and earthquakes plaguing nearby communities for over four months.







 .
Video: La. sinkhole resident briefing Oct 23, Part 8.
 
Officials held the meeting at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church Hall in Pierre Part that was filled with citizens eager to hear the latest news from officials and experts about the sinkhole disaster.
 
"Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night wondering if they are going to give us money to relocate or what they are going to do," said Donald Gros, a resident of Bayou Corne.
 
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Commissioner has ordered Texas Brine to present a plan and timetable to the state by November 13. Some of that plan was broached Tuesday night by the company spokesperson, particularly safety issues.
 
Extra experts are being hired to try to find and implement a solution, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources director Stephen Chustz told evacuees and other residents at the meeting.
 
Probably there would not be more sinkholes forming. Instead, if anything, the existing sinkhole would just get bigger, according to Hecox. Even another official on Tuesday night, however, questioned that, and tried to obtain more information.
 
“There is no cookbook," he stated matter-of-factly. "There’s not even any decent case studies people how to proceed when you’ve had a cavern collapse 5,00 feet below ground, you’ve had to frack out to the surface in the form of a sinkhole, and you have natural gas and crude oil coming in and bubbling up all over.
 
“We’ve talked to people all over the world. This is a unique situation. I know people are frustrated."
 
Emotions were high by the time locals were finally able to ask questions about the detailed technical material presented to them during the first part of the meeting, when questions were not permitted.
 
“Right now, we’ve got to work our way through the problem and we’ve got to do it safe so nobody gets hurt,” Hecox said.
 
Many people have not heeded the evacuation order. Many more are excluded from the mandatory evacuation zone that was based purely on the township boundaries, not areas where the human impact is being experienced, including chemicals in the air and seismic activity.
 
Two days ago, a jolt was felt by some people not in the mandatory evacuation zone.
 
"It felt like i was walking on jello," said Deby Tomlin, who lives just over the zone line.
 
Asked about the mandatory evacuation Tuesday night, Hecox's response was as sobering as the petition being signed by people throughout the nation urging Gov. Bobby Jindal to expand the mandatory evacuation order that he declared as a matter of human rights to health and safety.
 
“I’m a technical advisor for the state and the parish," he said. "Here’s my criteria of whether it’s safe for you to go back to your homes, and that is: 'Would but I could put my kids and my grandkids back in their homes if they lived there?'
 
"That’s the criteria I’m using mentally to think though. I have nine and half grandkids and would I tell their parents it’s safe to go back to Bayou Corne?”
 
“Are you saying it’s not now?” a woman in the crowd asked him. “You would not have your grandkids there now?”
 
He answered, “Right now, the evacuation order is appropriate.”

Are they saying this thing is 500 feet deep? And covers 4 acres, so far?

That's no sinkhole, that's a new lake, and full of crude oil and natural gas? All being jostled around by earthquakes? Wow. I noticed it's near Pierre Part, which is where some of the gator hunters, Troy Landry and the Guist Brothers, is from on the Discovery show Swamp People.

The only think I see them being able to do with that thing is watch it grow till it stops. There is not a thing else but leave the area and get out of it's way.

At first, I didn't pay much attention to a sinkhole, as they get them in Florida often, no big deal. This one is a big deal! I didn't realize how it has grown, nor did I realize all the gas and oil involved.

Sinkhole unprecedented globally, heed evacuation order, geologist says

The Bayou Corne sinkhole is truly a historical event, unprecedented globally, according to a geologist who addressed a group of residents, evacuees and others Tuesday night in Pierre Part at a briefing high with emotions at times, such as when the mandatory evacuation issue was addressed.

"In the history of this type of event, this is very unique,” said Dr. Gary Hecox, geologist with Shaw Environmental stated at the resident meeting Tuesday night. Upset citizens fired one after another question after the officials gave presentation updating the locals with their latest updates about the disaster.

“Nobody ever dealt with something like this,” said Hecox, technical advisor with Shaw Environmental Group that has been contracted by Louisiana Department of Natural Resources to help attempt to manage the monster sinkhole, area leaking gases and crude, and earthquakes plaguing nearby communities for over four months.

Officials held the meeting at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church Hall in Pierre Part that was filled with citizens eager to hear the latest news from officials and experts about the sinkhole disaster.

"Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night wondering if they are going to give us money to relocate or what they are going to do," said Donald Gros, a resident of Bayou Corne.

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Commissioner has ordered Texas Brine to present a plan and timetable to the state by November 13. Some of that plan was broached Tuesday night by the company spokesperson, particularly safety issues.

Extra experts are being hired to try to find and implement a solution, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources director Stephen Chustz told evacuees and other residents at the meeting.

Probably there would not be more sinkholes forming. Instead, if anything, the existing sinkhole would just get bigger, according to Hecox. Even another official on Tuesday night, however, questioned that, and tried to obtain more information.

“There is no cookbook," he stated matter-of-factly. "There’s not even any decent case studies people how to proceed when you’ve had a cavern collapse 5,00 feet below ground, you’ve had to frack out to the surface in the form of a sinkhole, and you have natural gas and crude oil coming in and bubbling up all over.

“We’ve talked to people all over the world. This is a unique situation. I know people are frustrated."

Emotions were high by the time locals were finally able to ask questions about the detailed technical material presented to them during the first part of the meeting, when questions were not permitted.

“Right now, we’ve got to work our way through the problem and we’ve got to do it safe so nobody gets hurt,” Hecox said.

Many people have not heeded the evacuation order. Many more are excluded from the mandatory evacuation zone that was based purely on the township boundaries, not areas where the human impact is being experienced, including chemicals in the air and seismic activity.

Two days ago, a jolt was felt by some people not in the mandatory evacuation zone.

"It felt like i was walking on jello," said Deby Tomlin, who lives just over the zone line.

Asked about the mandatory evacuation Tuesday night, Hecox's response was as sobering as the petition being signed by people throughout the nation urging Gov. Bobby Jindal to expand the mandatory evacuation order that he declared as a matter of human rights to health and safety.

“I’m a technical advisor for the state and the parish," he said. "Here’s my criteria of whether it’s safe for you to go back to your homes, and that is: 'Would but I could put my kids and my grandkids back in their homes if they lived there?'

"That’s the criteria I’m using mentally to think though. I have nine and half grandkids and would I tell their parents it’s safe to go back to Bayou Corne?”

“Are you saying it’s not now?” a woman in the crowd asked him. “You would not have your grandkids there now?”

He answered, “Right now, the evacuation order is appropriate.”

http://www.examiner.com/article/sinkhole-unprecedented-globally-heed-evacuation-order-geologist-says

(http://www.pakalertpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Giant-Louisiana-sinkhole-grows-to-4-acres.jpg)

(http://api.ning.com/files/bNvhKLK6qERwXWJNLaNc8g9s9pmZJJgTVoPZw5pTT5u41hLxCS5PUEANbYUXlZapTmi-WYUBmjsss0Q38w82-cGSWUdeevpr/la.sinkhole.jpg)

La. sinkhole methane explosion possible says sheriff, refuting naysayers

The Assumption Parish sheriff stated that methane ignition and explosion are possible in the Bayou Corne sinkhole area, refuting naysayers about such an explosion and spotlighting grave human rights issues related to the "history-making event" and "environmental nightmare,’ according to a KLFY Channel 10 three-part special televised report aired Friday.

The possibility exists that Louisiana's sinkhole-related methane, percolating in over a dozen sites near and miles away from the sinkhole area, could ignite and cause an explosion, according to Assumption Parish Sherriff Michael J. Waguespack, interviewed about the unprecedented Bayou Corne event unfolding in South Louisiana's swampland.

Waguespack, lover of south Louisiana people and culture, made the statement to KLFY reporter Chuck Huebner about the massive amount of methane known to be trapped below the Assumption Parish sinkhole area surface, continually leaking and bubbling to the surface.

“If it finds a source, an oil well, a water well, it will basically come to the surface. If that’s inside of a shed, or something off the ground and it’s captured, it’s an ignition source," stated Waguespack.

"Then 'Boom,' and you have an explosion,” he said.

Numerous comments about the impossibility of methane igniting have been posted on Deborah Dupré's Examiner.com article pages about the Bayou Corne sinkhole disaster.

This week, methane in tap water of a Napoleonville man's home was reportedly bubbling and flammable but claimed to be unrelated to methane leaks in the expanding sinkhole area of Napoleonville Salt Dome and not unusual in Louisiana, according to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality on Wednesday.

In early October, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) advised the Assumption Parish President that the Bayou Corne sinkhole area had high levels of methane in nearby water wells, posing risks to health, fire and explosion and that residents need to heed the mandatory evacuation order.

Locals were not publicly advised about that DHH notice. Only about 150 of the 350 residents under mandatory evacuation have heeded the order, some saying they will be notified in time to leave if the situation is really life-threatening.

“Crazy,” Huebner says in his report, The History of the Assumption Parish Sinkhole. “What else can you call it when part of your parish is disappearing into the Earth?”

The sinkhole developed after two months of methane bubbling in Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou, according to locals and subsequent news reports. The methane bubbles were occurring as thousands of earthquakes were also occurring, according to USGS later reports.

In another massive collapse Tuesday after strong quakes six days earlier, the sinkhole grew to the size of seven football fields.

[Watch each of KLFY's three-part series, The History of the Assumption Parish Sinkhole, here.]

“It’s almost like a live animal, everyday," Waguespack told Huebner. "It seems to grow and there’s a new issue that develops.”

Huebner says that for Waguespack, the most immediate problem has been the continued mandatory evacuation of some 150 people in the area.

"The problem is, nobody knows when it will end."

Experts are telling John Boudreaux, Assumption Parish Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness that "this is new science," Huebner says.

“The experts have never seen anything like this before.”

“Nobody expected anything like this to happen," local businessman Dennis Landry says.

Scientists working on the sinkhole “really have their hands full,” Huebner reports. “Although it appears only "one of 67 salt caverns has collapsed," it still has created an environmental nightmare that experts are still struggling to get a handle on.”

The report highlights that one big problem is that the aquifer beneath the dome is now "contaminated with natural gas and maybe possibly even oil."

"Fortunately, the area’s drinking water does not come from the aquifer. It comes from Bayou Lafouche," according to the KLFY report out of nearby Lafayette, Louisiana.

Unfortunately, according to this new report, Assumption Parish's Bayou Corne/Grand Bayou sinkhole problem began with a series of bubbles that began not there, but in nearby Bayou Lafourche.

This means that local sinkhole area people are getting their water from a source known to have methane in it.

Until a way can be found to stop the methane, nobody under the mandatory evacuation will be able to return to their home, the report highlights.

“The experts have never really seen anything like this before," Waguespack told Huebner. "This is really new science, and that’s what’s taking so long."

Waguespack says they need to get some 3-D seismic done.

Approximately three million cubic feet of material has gone into this cavern, according to Waguespack. He explained that the sinkhole itself only accounts for approximately 550,000 cubic feet of that material.

"So there is approximately 2. 7 million cubic feet of material that’s entered the cavern that’s unaccounted for,” said Waguespack.

If and when the voids settle, the volume of the sinkhole could be expected to be six times its current size.

“They may be pockets and voids, and that might be one reason the sinkhole continues to grow as things settle down,” said Waguespack.

“The problem that remains is how to get rid of the natural gas that scientists say believe is still down there,” Huebner stated.

Four vent wells have been installed. The casing that is about 200 feet down has been perforated to try to get the natural gas vented out, but so far, this has been un successful, according to Waguespack.

“The gas is only 100 or 150 feet down,” he said.

Butane stored in one of the caverns has added concern about an explosion that independent scientists have previously explained is a grave possibility.

"Butane explosion effects would differ from an H-bomb effects two ways: 1) It would take much longer and have insignificant radiation damage; 2) Temperatures reached would be lower, so the fireball, thermal radiation, and air blast radii would be smaller, but all three longer-lasting." (See: Sinkhole: H-Bomb explosion equivalent in Bayou Corne possible)

Within four months, methane bubbling had been observed at twenty-eight sites, according to some reports, including in Pierre Part, outside the mandatory evacuation zone but within hearing distance of loud "booms," seismic activity jolts and foul chemical odors nauseate and burn some residents.

Governor Bobby Jindal has not increased the mandatory evacuation zone, despite public outcry from across the nation petitioning him to protect people needing help to flee the catastrophe-in-the-making.

To date, Jindal has not publicly visited the sinkhole disaster site.

“The worst-case scenario, I guess, says Waguespack, "is if this gas in the aquifer comes to the surface and gets under some type of building, facility or structure and the bubbles come up and there’s ignition.”

Last month, independent physicists reported to Dupré that Assumption Parish's sinkhole methane could have traveled north through waterways or rock fissures and caused the Minden military bunker facility to explode during a meteorite event.

That explosion was reportedly felt across three southern states.

lots of links in article: http://www.examiner.com/article/la-sinkhole-methane-explosion-possible-says-sheriff-refuting-naysayers?cid=rss

GEOLOGICAL UPHEAVAL: Louisiana Sinkhole Grows to 8 Acres - 80,000 Gallons of Oil Removed From the Surface!

November 17, 2012 - LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES - In the following excerpts from The Advocate, the Assumption Parish Situation Summary and the informal meeting of Bayou Corne Resident Meeting with Louisiana State Representatives; evidence has now surfaced that the Louisiana sinkhole has grown to over eight acres with "ridiculous" amounts of oil outside the hole.

rest: with vid and PDF's http://thecelestialconvergence.blogspot.com/2012/11/geological-upheaval-louisiana-sinkhole.html

Monster sinkhole sparks catastrophe worries
Acres of forest swallowed up, while residents fear gas explosion

Southern Louisiana is in danger of experiencing an environmental calamity rivaling the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, thanks to a massive, expanding sinkhole that is gobbling up the forest and lighting up YouTube with videos of this startling phenomenon.

In southern Louisiana, about 40 miles south of Baton Rouge in Assumption Parish, is the town of Bayou Corne. The town is in the middle of the oil rich area of the coastal United States and is near the nation’s Strategic Oil Reserve.

On May 31 of this year, parish residents began to notice bubbles percolating up from both Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou. This is not unusual for the area known for its “swamp gas,” the product of decaying organic matter. The amount of the gas emanating from the water, however, was unusual. Dennis Landry, who owns guest cabins about half a mile from the hole, said that the number gas bubbles were growing in size, and in some areas they made the bayou look like “a boiling crawfish pot.”

On June 22 state officials began monitoring the gas coming up from the bayou for hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide and the explosive levels of natural gasses.

Residents within the community then experienced and reported tremors and the parish enlisted the aid of the United States Geological Service in locating the origin and cause of the seismic activity. Immediately after the USGS began monitoring the area, they detected seismic activity, but no probable cause was able to be detected at that time.

The early in the morning of August 3, reports started to come in of a sinkhole having formed overnight in the swamp in the area. The hole was discovered after a strong diesel smell was experienced in the area.

John Boudreaux, director of the Office of Homeland Security in Assumption Parish stated that initial measurements of the sinkhole found it to be 324 feet in diameter and up to 422 feet at its deepest part. The sinkhole was swallowing trees up to 100 feet tall in its wake. The most current reported estimates suggest it has since grown to over 6 acres in size.

Scientists believe a Texas Brine salt cavern inside the Napoleonville Dome near Bayou Corne failed and initiated a chain of events that created the sinkhole and released methane and crude oil.

Area residents were evacuated from the area, fearing a toxic gas release and possible explosion.

An aerial video of the sinkhole can be seen in the video below, one of several available on the video sharing site YouTube:

rest: http://www.wnd.com/2012/11/monster-sinkhole-sparks-catastrophe-worries/

WOW! What the heck are they doing storing butane like that, and that amount? That's A LOT of butane!

Makes one wonder just what else they have stored that they haven't been mentioning. >:(

http://theadvocate.com/home/4853364-125/experts-say-sinkhole-gas-burning

Experts say sinkhole gas burning off slowly

BY DAVID J. MITCHELL
 
River Parishes bureau

January 08, 2013

One-tenth to one-twentieth of the methane gas estimated to be trapped under the Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou communities in northern Assumption Parish has been burned off so far, according to parish emergency response officials.

Scientists believe the failure of an abandoned underground salt cavern owned by Texas Brine Co. LLC set in motion a series of events that scrambled the substrata thousands of feet deep, creating a 8.5-acre sinkhole at the surface and unleashing oil and gas from nearby natural formations underground.

The cavern, which was never used to store methane, was carved over a 27-year period from the Napoleonville Dome, a large subterranean salt deposit.

This “free gas,” as it is known, presents a risk to the 150 households in Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou areas, scientists have said, because the colorless and odorless gas can accumulate in enclosed spaces in homes and garages and pose a risk of explosion.

The risk is one of the reasons evacuated residents remain out of their homes more than five months since discovery of the swampland sinkhole Aug. 3, parish officials have said.

The pace of installing the wells that will vent the gas has drawn fire from residents and parish officials. Parish Police Jury President Martin “Marty” Triche raised this issue last month during a community meeting in Napoleonville.

As a comparison, he pointed to the reaction of Gulf South Pipeline Co. LP to a natural gas leak in late December 2003 in the Grand Bayou area east of where the sinkhole is now located.

The underground leak resulted from the failure of metal casing in an access well to an underground gas storage cavern on Dow Chemical Co.’s property. The cavern also was carved from the Napoleonville Dome.

The leak led to a 50-day evacuation of 28 residents who lived in Grand Bayou, most of whom were later bought out.

Gulf South, which was in a partnership with Entergy Corp. and Koch Gateway Pipeline at the time and was leasing the cavern from Dow, installed 36 vent wells. Triche said that took only weeks to do.

“I just want to tell that you sit here and you tell us you’ve committed to doing everything you can to resolve the situation and all we can do is take you at face value,” Triche told Bruce Martin, Texas Brine’s vice president of operations, during the meeting amid a broad critique of the company’s response.

“But I can tell you, for those of you that were here, the response to the 2003 incident and what we see today are night and day,” Triche said.

Triche, a lawyer, represented Dow in later litigation over the gas leak.

The 2003 Gulf South leak released an estimated 600 million cubic feet of gas underground in the same water aquifer now affected by the Texas Brine-cavern leak.

Seventeen of the 36 wells drilled collected or burned off gas, removing 375 million cubic feet before officials started closing down the wells in July 2004, according to the Louisiana Office of Conservation and an insurance report filed in connection with litigation over the 2003 leak.

In the latest incident in Bayou Corne, between 50 million and 100 million cubic feet of gas is believed under the area, scientists have estimated. And in the five months since the sinkhole was found, various kinds of wells have drawn off a combined 4.95 million cubic feet of gas through Friday, the new parish estimate says.

At latest count from the state Office of Conservation, three wells are burning off a combined 59,200 cubic feet of gas per day.

But the venting process in Bayou Corne has run into hurdles, affecting the number of wells burning gas and how much gas they burn.

The first batch of four wells installed by the Office of Conservation and its agent, Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure Inc., ran into problems with blockages and water infiltration. Two of their wells are now venting gas.

Two other wells Texas Brine installed on its 40-acre site hit hydrogen sulfide, a potentially lethal gas. That discovery forced the permanent closure of one well and the installation of specialized equipment in another before flaring will be allowed to resume.

Water infiltration ended flaring last month from a converted pressure well, a separate kind of well that measures underground gas, company officials have said.

Texas Brine is looking at two other pressure wells for new flaring options and has one vent well burning off gas.

Texas Brine officials have also pointed out they continue to have trouble with land access around Bayou Corne where there are multiple property owners, including residential owners.

In the Grand Bayou incident in 2003, most of the gas was found over the Napoleonville Dome, east of Bayou Corne and under property owned by industrial users, Texas Brine officials noted.

“I think the circumstances were different,” company spokesman Sonny Cranch said.

The Office of Conservation noted access difficulties Dec. 17 when it did not fine Texas Brine a second time for failing to meet vent well deadlines. The agency had cited that issue in an initial round of fines levied Dec. 1.

But Triche, who reached an agreement with Texas Brine on reimbursement of parish response costs Friday, contends Texas Brine could have started much sooner to find well sites, a delay that is part of a pattern, he says, of not being proactive on its sinkhole response.

Triche said he is glad Texas Brine will pay for its responsibilities, but he remains upset that the company has not done more to mitigate the sinkhole event.

“They still got a lot of work left to do, and it’s long overdue,” he said.

What Just Happened At The Sinkhole?
Thursday, January 24, 2013 11:00

A short while ago, the Ceri Monitors for the Louisiana sinkhole went off the charts. What happened? Check out these charts yourself. Has there been some type of a seismic event? The recent video below shares more bad news about it. Additionaly, according to this just released story from the Insurance Journal:

Scientists have noticed a recent increase in seismic activity near the 8.5-acre sinkhole at Bayou Corne, and worry that it might grow again, Assumption Parish officials say.
The increase was first noticed about two weeks ago, John Boudreaux, director of the Assumption Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, told The Advocate.

Scientists noticed more than 80 such events on Jan. 18, but activity dropped after the sinkhole “burped” crude oil, debris and hydrocarbon to the surface the next morning, he said.

Boudreaux says officials worry that something may be shifting in salt deposits just east of the failed Texas Brine Co. LLC cavern that scientists believe caused the sinkhole.
Company officials don’t know of any seismic activity since Jan. 19, spokesman Sonny Cranch told the Associated Press.
It looks like now company spokesman Sonny Cranch is going to have to change his story, if the charts below are to be believed. Here's some additional monitors...

pics and links: http://beforeitsnews.com/earthquakes/2013/01/what-just-happened-at-the-sinkhole-2448162.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OWTmXH4xP50

http://beforeitsnews.com/earthquakes/2013/01/what-just-happened-at-the-sinkhole-2448162.html

The Great Collapse: crust weakening, slipping, and collapsing across the planet

Pavement buckles, closes US 89 south of Page(Arizona)
http://www.kpho.com/story/21281568/pavement-buckles-closes-us-89-south-of-page?hpt=hp_t3

No end in sight to 'worst ever' train problems between Scunthorpe and Doncaster
Read more: http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/end-sight-worst-train-problems-Scunthorpe/story-18232634-detail/story.html#ixzz2LmL7z6Cg

200 Handwara families migrate as land develops cracks
http://www.risingkashmir.in/news/200-handwara-families-migrate-as-land-develops-cracks-42126.aspx

Massive sinkhole swallows up farm in Sichuan
http://shanghaiist.com/2013/02/09/photos_massive_sinkholes_swallow_up.php#photo-3

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2013/02/23/the-great-collapse-crust-weakening-slipping-and-collapsing-across-the-planet/

Isaiah 5:13  Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.
Isaiah 5:14  Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
Isaiah 5:15  And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:
Isaiah 5:16  But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.

 ???

http://www.activistpost.com/2013/02/is-new-madrid-mega-quake-being.html?m=1

2/24/13

Is the New Madrid Mega Quake Being Engineered?

The Powers-That-Be seem to be making a continuous effort to drive a stake right into America's heart(land). Natural disasters are on the rise, and an increasing amount of evidence is leading to the conclusion that these natural disasters might not be completely natural.

Some already have speculated that we are entering a time of weather and earthquake wars, as the incidence of mega disasters has risen across the world. Is government experimentation simply going awry, or is it being orchestrated on purpose? Are they hiding behind or even amplifying current natural earth changes such as the strong solar cycle and the ongoing magnetic pole shift to accomplish some furtive plot?

The hidden hand has always cloaked itself using a wide array of techniques to conceal its divide-and-conquer agenda. By owning the ultimate weapon -- the very climate upon which we all depend -- entire regions can now be put under a full spectrum of remote control already served up through climate change, economic instability, and the military-surveillance complex brought in under the false threat of terrorism.

Louisiana Sink Hole - Will This Trigger the Big One?

As you peruse the points below and the accompanying illustrations, you'll see a very clear, seriously dangerous weak spot.

If someone wanted to deal a disastrous blow to this nation, where would you trigger a "natural disaster" if you could?

The recent developments with the growing Louisiana sinkhole caving into a potentially massively explosive gas repository also used for nuclear waste storage is something to keep a close eye on and take very seriously.

The Evidence of a Plan

Predictive Programming -- This is where the groundwork is laid for directing people toward an imagined future. Through books, video games, movies, propaganda placement, and education, the passive receiving of orchestrated information can literally change the future. Elites have always been obsessed with mind control . . . and the best form is that which is the least obvious. The unaware are manipulated and controlled without a single shot being fired, or a single piece of legislation written. However, once one becomes attuned to their methods, it becomes incredibly obvious. Besides the constant bombardment of mega-disaster and end-of-the-world scenarios, including the new madrid mega quake, one prime current example is geoengineering (aka chemtrails). This chemical spraying has now wormed into movies and public places as an example for children to embrace the new normal of planes laying down a tic-tac-toe murky gloom across our skies.

Accept the new manipulated reality and the rest will follow.

HAARP --The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program based in Gakona Alaska is under constant scrutiny, as researchers track its relationship to weather modification and earthquake activity. This facility and its substations scattered throughout the U.S. have been tracked by intrepid weather researcher Dutchsinse who has made some startlingly accurate predictions based on the tell-tale radar flares of these facilities, already linked to earthquakes in the area of the New Madrid seismic zone. Subsequent flooding is so severe and unprecedented that locals are even saying it seems like the whole area is sinking.

And it continues to get more bizarre.


Weather manipulating technology is apparently being tested and fine-tuned for worldwide use, as other such antenna arrays are located in Norway (EISCAT), Australia (Exmouth), and several other countries, as well as via massive floating radar rigs and space-based facilities. The Japan earthquake and tsunami as well as many other major disasters have this signature of outside manipulation. Video showing distinct vibrational patterns, as well as purported "punch holes" have been cited as evidence in the case of the Japan quake. Increased HAARP activity seems to correspond and, curiously, the HAARP site was taken down following the incident. While the evidence that exists is somewhat tangential, HAARP's stated capabilities are indeed ground penetrating.

Geoengineering -- This might be the most obvious part of the elite plan for global control. Books like Ecoscience by Obama's science czar, John Holdren; the military plans for Owning The Weather by 2025; and the Royal Society proclamations all point to a relatively small group of selected sociopaths who would love to play God with our climate, backed by ultra-elite front organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As described above, there already has been a conditioning program for people to accept seeing planes spray across the skies. Now, the evidence is in: it is a chemical cocktail which contains dangerous levels of toxic particulates such as barium and aluminum. Certainly the USDA seems to have accepted this reality, as they own a patent for aluminum resistance. Monsanto seems to have prepared as well with 3,981 patents for "stress tolerance" through genetic modification of plants, fruits, grains and vegetables (Source). The recurring out-of-season mega-twister outbreaks, one of which led scientists 2 years ago to conduct a disaster autopsy, might also point to evidence of weather modification experiments that are facilitated by the presence of heavy metals in chemtrails that intensify the effect of manipulative EMFs. Lastly, the convoluted debate surrounding global warming has permitted geoengineering to be hidden in plain sight and is leading to a cascade of unintended (or intended) consequences such as ocean current changes that are leading to the release of methane from hydrate and clathrate deposits. This is leading to a change in the biosphere and acidification which can be catastrophic to the well being of the entire planet (Source).

The Ground Wave Emergency Network

Electromagnetic Control -- It is known the toxic soup of electo-magnetic waves already in place through power lines, cell towers, WiFi, radio, television and a host of other broadcasting devices has a seriously deleterious effect on human health and mental well being. HAARP and its various localized outposts and GWEN towers (Ground Wave Emergency Network) has the known capability to affect human thought.

This electrosmog is no accident. The electromagnetic juicing of our atmosphere further enhances the ability to manipulate a whole array of techo-weapons which are apparently being used to "steer" our weather patterns and could be used to further exacerbate any calamity, including a New Madrid conflagration. Directing weather to desired locales, while having the ability to trigger earthquakes, seems an easy fit for the globalists who want to control everything possible.

Big Oil and Gas Fracking -- Since September of 2010, over 800 earthquakes rattled Arkansas and the New Madrid Fault Line. The entire state only experienced 38 quakes in 2009. The New Madrid Zone is believed to be a part of a complex of faults that extends down the Mississippi Valley into The Gulf of Mexico. In fact, the oil volcano that was unleashed by the BP disaster is thought to be at the southern tip of this volatile area. Not only are oil and gas being extracted from beneath this zone at enormous rates, but an extraction process called fracking is further exacerbating seismic activity in the region and might even trigger a mega-quake. Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) pumps water and chemicals into the ground at a pressurized rate exceeding what the bedrock can withstand, resulting in a microquake that produces rock fractures. A close look at Arkansas’ history of earthquakes and drilling reveals a shockingly noticeable surge in quake frequency following advanced drilling. Fracking is now a global technique for finding natural gas.

more

2Peter 3:8  But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2Pe 3:11  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2Pe 3:12  Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
2Pe 3:13  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
2Pe 3:14  Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
2Pe 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

http://news.yahoo.com/florida-man-swallowed-sinkhole-under-bedroom-163420414.html

Florida man swallowed by sinkhole under bedroom
3/1/13

SEFFNER, Fla. (AP) — A huge sinkhole about 30-feet across opened up under a man's bedroom and swallowed him, taking all of the furniture too.
 
Jeff Bush was feared dead after the floor gave way Thursday night. As he screamed for help, his brother Jeremy Bush jumped into the hole to try to help, but couldn't see him and had to be rescued himself. With the earth still crumbling, a sheriff's deputy reached out his hand and pulled Jeremy Bush to safety.
 
"The floor was still giving in and the dirt was still going down, but I didn't care. I wanted to save my brother," Jeremy Bush said through tears Friday as he stood in a neighbor's yard. "But I just couldn't do nothing."
 
The only thing sticking out of the hole was a small corner of a bed's box spring. Cables from a television led down into the hole, but the TV set, along with a dresser, was nowhere to be seen.
 
Officials lowered equipment into the sinkhole but didn't see any sign of life.
 
Jeremy Bush said it took him only seconds to get to his brother's room about 11 p.m. Thursday. He had just knocked on his brother's bedroom door, telling him they weren't working Friday. The brothers were employed by the Transportation Department and picked up trash along interstates and roads.
 
"I went in my bedroom, heard a loud crash, ran in that direction," he said. "I was getting ready to run into the room and I almost fell into the hole. I jumped into the hole and started digging for me. I started screaming for him."
 
Engineers worked to determine the size of the sinkhole. At the surface, officials estimated it was about 30 feet across. Below the surface, officials believed it was 100 feet wide.
 
From the outside of the small, sky blue house, nothing appeared wrong. There wear no cracks and the only sign something was amiss was the yellow caution tape circling the house.
 
There were six people at the home when it collapsed, including Jeremy Bush's wife and his 2-year-old daughter.
 
"It was something you would see in a movie. You wouldn't, in your wildest dreams, you wouldn't think anything like that could happen, especially here," he said.
 
Hillsborough County Sheriff's Deputy Douglas Duvall rescued Jeremy Bush.
 
"I reached down and was able to actually able to get him by his hand and pull him out of the hole. The hole was collapsing. At that time, we left the house," Duvall said.
 
Sheriff's office spokesman Larry McKinnon said authorities asked sinkhole and engineering experts to help with the recovery effort, and they were using equipment to see if the ground can support the weight of heavy machinery that was needed.
 
"We put engineering equipment into the sinkhole and didn't see anything compatible with life," Hillsborough County Fire Rescue spokeswoman Jessica Damico said. "The entire house is on the sinkhole."
 
Neighbors on both sides of the home have been evacuated.

Psalms_30:9  What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?

Psa_143:7  Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.

 ???

Seffner? My grandparents use to have a place in Dover, which is right next door. That area is a strawberry farm area. But is also an area that has seen a lot of population growth over the last 20 years too. I'd say an increase in ground water use is the cause.

http://news.yahoo.com/fla-sinkhole-swallowed-man-grows-deeper-082431378.html

3/2/13
Fla. sinkhole that swallowed man grows deeper

SEFFNER, Fla. (AP) — Engineers worked gingerly Saturday morning to find out more about a slowly growing sinkhole that swallowed a Florida man in his bedroom, believing the entire house could eventually succumb to the unstable ground.
 
Jeff Bush, 37, was in his bedroom Thursday night when the earth opened and took him and everything else in his room. Five other people were in the house but managed to escape unharmed. Bush's brother jumped into the hole to try to help, but he had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy.
 
Engineers began doing more tests at 7 a.m. Saturday. Crews with equipment were at the home next door, one of two that has been evacuated. By 10 a.m., officials moved media crews farther away from the Bush house so experts could perform tests on the home across the street. It's unclear how large the sinkhole is, or whether it leads to other caverns and chasms throughout the neighborhood. Experts say the underground of West Central Florida looks similar to Swiss cheese, with the geography lending itself to sinkholes.
 
Experts spent the previous day on the property, taking soil samples and running various tests — while acknowledging that the entire lot where Bush lay entombed was dangerous. No one was allowed in the home.
 
"I cannot tell you why it has not collapsed yet," Bill Bracken, the owner of an engineering company called to assess the sinkhole, said of the home. He described the earth below as a "very large, very fluid mass."
 
"This is not your typical sinkhole," said Hillsborough County administrator Mike Merrill. "This is a chasm. For that reason, we're being very deliberate."
 
Officials delicately addressed another sad reality: Bush was likely dead and the family wanted his body. Merrill, though, said they didn't want to jeopardize any more lives.
 
They would like us to go in quickly and locate Mr. Bush," Merrill said. Officials added Saturday morning that a fund had been set up to help the families affected by the sinkhole.
 
On Saturday, Jeremy Bush — who tried to rescue his brother when the earth opened — lay flowers and a stuffed lamb near the house and wept.
 
Hillsborough County Fire Chief Ron Roger called the situation "very complex."
 
"It's continuing to evolve, and the ground is continuing to collapse,"  he said.
 
Sinkholes are so common in Florida that state law requires home insurers to provide coverage against the danger. While some cars, homes and other buildings have been devoured, it's extremely rare for them to swallow a person.
 
Florida is highly prone to sinkholes because there are caverns below ground of limestone, a porous rock that easily dissolves in water.
 
"You can almost envision a piece of Swiss cheese," Taylor Yarkosky, a sinkhole expert from Brooksville, Fla., said while gesturing to the ground and the sky blue home where the earth opened in Seffner. "Any house in Florida could be in that same situation."
 
A sinkhole near Orlando grew to 400 feet across in 1981 and devoured five sports cars, most of two businesses, a three-bedroom house and the deep end of an Olympic-size swimming pool.
 
More than 500 sinkholes have been reported in Hillsborough County alone since the government started keeping track in 1954, according to the state's environmental agency.
 
The sinkhole, estimated at 20 feet across and 20 feet deep, caused the home's concrete floor to cave in around 11 p.m. Thursday as everyone in the Tampa-area house was turning in for the night. It gave way with a loud crash that sounded like a car hitting the house and brought Bush's brother running.
 
Jeremy Bush said he jumped into the hole but couldn't see his brother and had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy who reached out and pulled him to safety as the ground crumbled around him.
 
"The floor was still giving in and the dirt was still going down, but I didn't care. I wanted to save my brother," Jeremy Bush said through tears Friday in a neighbor's yard. "But I just couldn't do nothing."
 
He added: "I could swear I heard him hollering my name to help him."
 
A dresser and the TV set had vanished down the hole, along with most of Bush's bed.
 
A sheriff's deputy who was the first to respond to a frantic 911 call said when he arrived, he saw Jeremy Bush.
 
Deputy Douglas Duvall said he reached down as if he was "sticking his hand into the floor" to help Jeremy Bush. Duvall said he didn't see anyone else in the hole.
 
As he pulled Bush out, "everything was sinking," Duvall said.
 
Engineers said they may have to demolish the small house, even though from the outside there appeared to be nothing wrong with the four-bedroom, concrete-wall structure, built in 1974.
 
Jeremy Bush said someone came out to the home a couple of months ago to check for sinkholes and other things, apparently for insurance purposes.
 
"He said there was nothing wrong with the house. Nothing. And a couple of months later, my brother dies. In a sinkhole," Bush said.

http://news.yahoo.com/most-fla-house-over-sinkhole-demolished-174558497.html

3/3/13
Most of Fla. house over sinkhole demolished

SEFFNER, Fla. (AP) — Crews on Sunday razed more than half of the Tampa-area home perched over a huge sinkhole that swallowed a man three days ago, managing to salvage some keepsakes for family members who lived there.
 
Jeremy Bush, 35, tried to save his brother, Jeff, when the earth opened up and swallowed him Thursday night. On Sunday morning, Bush and relatives prayed with a pastor as the home — where he lived with his girlfriend, Rachel Wicker; their daughter, Hannah, 2; and others — was demolished and waited for firefighters to salvage anything possible from inside.
 
Early Sunday morning, just before the demolition began, Bush and an unidentified woman knelt and prayed at the mailbox in front of the home, owned by Leland Wicker, Rachel's grandfather, since the 1970s.
 
After praying, Bush and the woman walked across the street to a neighbor's lawn to watch the demolition.
 
The operator of the heavy equipment worked gingerly, first taking off a front wall. Family belongings were scooped onto the lawn gently in hopes of salvaging parts of the family's 40-year history in the home.
 
As of Sunday afternoon — when demolition had stopped for the day and only a few walls of the home remained — a Bible, family photos, a jewelry box and a pink teddy bear for Hannah were among the items saved. Firefighters also were able to pick out the purse of one of the women in the home.
 
Cheers went up from family, friends and neighbors each time something valuable was salvaged.
 
Wanda Carter, the daughter of Leland Wicker, cradled the large family Bible in her arms. She said her mother and father had stored baptism certificates, cards and photos between the pages of that Bible over the years.
 
"It means that God is still in control, and He knew we needed this for closure," she said, crying.
 
Carter said she spent from age 11 to 20 in the home, and she had to close her eyes as the home was knocked down.
 
"Thank you for all of the memories and life it gave us," she said.
 
The Rev. John Martin Bell of Shoals Baptist Church said he had been with the family all morning. "We just prayed with them," he said. He added that all five who lived in the house — Bush, Wicker, Hannah and two others ages 50 and 45 — were in need of support and prayers from the community.
 
Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill said the remaining walls of the home would be knocked down Monday and then crews would turn to clearing the debris as much as possible to allow officials and engineers to see the sinkhole in the open. Officials also will determine what will happen to the two homes on either side of the now-demolished house; experts say the sinkhole has "compromised" those homes, but it's unclear whether steps can be taken to save them.
 
Several generations of family members lived in the home at the time of the ground collapse, including Jeff Bush, the man now presumed dead.
 
Jeremy Bush tried to save his brother by jumping into the sinking dirt hole. He had to be pulled out of the still-shifting hole by a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Deputy, who was visibly shaken when talking about the incident more than a day later.
 
"I've never seen anything move so fast and do so much destruction," Deputy Douglas Duvall said.
 
The search for Jeff Bush, 37, was called off Saturday. He was in his bedroom Thursday night in Seffner — a suburb of 8,000 people 15 miles east of downtown Tampa — when the ground opened and took him and everything else in his room. Five others in the house at the time escape unharmed as the earth crumbled.
 
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is conducting the investigation. Detective Larry McKinnon said the sheriff's office and the county medical examiner cannot declare Bush dead if his body is still missing. Under Florida law, Bush's family must petition a court to declare him deceased.
 
"Based on the circumstances, he's presumed dead; however the official death certificate can only be issued by a judge and the family has to petition the court," McKinnon said.
 
The area around Seffner is known for sinkholes due to the geography of the terrain, but they are rarely deadly. No one — from longtime public safety officials to geologists — could remember an incident where a person was sucked into the earth without warning.

Why Are Giant Sinkholes Appearing All Over America? Is Something Happening To The Earth’s Crust?

Where are all of these giant sinkholes coming from?  Of course there have always been sinkholes, but over the past few years it seems like both the severity and the number of giant sinkholes has been increasing dramatically.  So exactly why are so many giant sinkholes appearing all over America all of a sudden?  Is something happening to the earth’s crust, or is there some other explanation?  The “experts” are blaming this epidemic of sinkholes on things like loose soil, acidic groundwater, new construction, leaky water pipes, coal mines, fracking, long periods of drought followed by rain, and depletion of underground aquifers, but do they really understand what is going on?  On Thursday, a 37-year-old man named Jeffrey Bush living near Tampa, Florida died when the earth underneath his home suddenly opened up and swallowed him alive.  His brother tried to help him when he heard Jeffrey screaming, but it was too late.  The entire bedroom was sucked deep into the earth and the home had to be rapidly abandoned.  Now authorities are admitting that he will probably never be found.  So is this type of thing really “normal”?  It would be one thing if this was just an isolated incident, but the truth is that giant sinkholes have been appearing with increasing frequency all over the planet lately. Could this be an indication that major earth changes are on the way?

Florida has always been an area that has been prone to sinkholes, but the numbers do show that sinkhole damage in the state has increased very rapidly in recent years.  According to ABC News, insurance claims related to sinkholes more than doubled between 2006 and 2009…

    Hillsborough County, where Seffner is situated, is part of an area in Florida prone to sinkholes, with insurance claims associated with them more than doubling between 2006 and 2009, according to a Florida Senate report.

But that is just Florida, right?

Other parts of the country are not having this kind of a problem, right?

Wrong.

Just check out what has been happening in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania lately.  There are dozens of sinkholes that have opened up in Harrisburg, and the city is so broke that it doesn’t have the money to fix all of them.

In fact, at this point there are 41 sinkholes that have been documented in Harrisburg, and many of them are right in the middle of the street…

    Pennsylvania’s state capital is suffering from a rash of monster sinkholes, but city officials are too broke to do anything about it.

    Loose soil and leaky, century-old underground water pipes are to blame for the municipal nightmare, which came to a head on the New Year’s Eve when a 50-foot sinkhole yawned open along Fourth Street, the Wall Street Journal reported.

    The eight-foot deep crater — one of at least 41 in the city — is so large, locals made it a “check-in” site on the social media site Four Square.

    Some cheeky residents and the media nicknamed the hole “Super Sinkhole Walter.”

Of course there have been lots of cities throughout U.S. history that have experienced such an epidemic of sinkholes, right?

There is no reason to be alarmed, right?

In a previous article about sinkholes, I talked about a sinkhole that recently formed in Ohio that was the size of four football fields and that was more than 30 feet deep.  It caused part of State Route 516 to collapse and authorities were projecting that the road would continue to stay closed for months to come.

But that is “normal”, right?

The giant Louisiana sinkhole in Assumption Parish that made headlines all over the nation last year is now more than 800 feet in diameter.  It just continues to grow, and authorities have no idea when it will stop growing.

But this kind of thing happens all the time, right?

Just recently, large sinkholes forced roads to close in New Jersey and in Arizona.  Of course those incidents will soon be forgotten because there are more news stories about major sinkholes in the United States almost every single day now.  Giant sinkholes have been happening with such regularity that people hardly take notice anymore.

You can see some photos of some of the craziest sinkholes in recent years right here.  It would be one thing if giant sinkholes were just appearing in the United States, but unfortunately that is not the case.

For instance, a sinkhole that appeared in the middle of Guatemala City in 2010 was about 30 stories deep.

Down in Sarisarinama, Venezuela some sinkholes have appeared in recent years that are more than 1,000 feet wide.

China has been one of the worst areas of the world for sinkholes over the past several years.  In fact, just check out what has been happening in one village in China recently…

    Residents in the village of Lianyuan in southern China’s Hunan Province have been treading rather gingerly these last few months. Over 20 sinkholes have opened up in the ground since last September. The cave-ins, which range in size, have seen houses collapse and rivers run dry. And there is never any warning as to where and when the sinkholes occur. According to local authorities, the main reason for the cave-ins is the number of coalmines in the area. It is not clear what steps are being taken to prevent further sinkholes from appearing.

I could go on and on with more examples from all over the globe, but hopefully you are starting to get the point.

Giant holes are opening up all over the earth and swallowing homes, buildings, roads and sometimes even people.

So why is this happening?

Is the crust of the earth becoming more unstable?

Or is something else at work?

Please feel free to post a comment with your opinion below…

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/why-are-giant-sinkholes-appearing-all-over-america-is-something-happening-to-the-earths-crust

The Most Terrifying Sinkhole Pictures You've Ever Seen

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/giant-sinkhole-photos-2013-3?op=1#ixzz2MYvT66W9

Yes, they are truely terrifying - come to think of it, I remember watching alot of this in 1990's movies(when I was an avid movie buff). Back then, thought it was nothing more than "check your brain out the door" mindless stuff...truth can be stranger than fiction...

Report: 2nd possible sinkhole opens up in Seffner
Authorities investigate hole 2 miles from where man was swallowed by sinkhole

Authorities are investigating another possible sinkhole in a neighborhood in Seffner, just two miles from where a sinkhole swallowed up a man in his bedroom last week , according to WTSP-TV.

Hillsborough County Fire Rescue and code enforcement are at a home on Cedar Tree Lane to determine if it is safe for the family to stay in the house, WTSP reports. The sinkhole is reportedly estimated to be about 10 feet across, straddling across a fence and affecting at least two properties.

WTSP reports there appears to be no structural damage to the houses.

The second possible sinkhole comes the same day workers demolished the blue, one-story home to try to salvage belongings for the family of the victim, Jeff Bush. The 20-foot-wide opening of the sinkhole was almost covered by the house, and rescuers said there were no signs of life since the hole opened Thursday.

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Report-2nd-possible-sinkhole-opens-up-in-Seffner/-/1637132/19175340/-/lpw1q3/-/index.html

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/five-facts-sinkholes-214013987.html

Five facts about sinkholes

3/5/13
A gaping, 50-foot sinkhole that took the life of a Florida man, Jeff Bush, whose bedroom was swallowed up, made for scary headlines worldwide. But sinkholes, it turns out, are not as rare you would think. The phenomena, for instance, are common in Florida, if only occasionally deadly. Here, with help from sources including the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Geological Survey, sinkholes explained:

How does a sinkhole form? "Cover-collapse" sinkholes occur when groundwater causes underground gaps that grow so big the ground above can’t support them. These can be dramatic events, since the holes can grow big enough to swallow a house, a road, a field or a swimming pool, even as those above ground go about their lives completely oblivious to the growing danger.
 
Are there other types of sinkholes? There are two other kinds: "solution" and "subsidence" sinkholes, which don't make the nightly news. That's because the changes to the topography happen slowly over time without catastrophic results.
 
Which states have sinkholes? The entire state of Florida is prone to sinkholes since it sits on top of a layer of limestone rock known as karst, which can be dissolved by acidic groundwater, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
 
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), other vulnerable states include Texas, Kentucky, Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.
 
Are sinkholes common? Unlike hurricanes or earthquakes, sinkholes aren’t tracked. But CNN reports that from 2006 to 2010 in Florida alone, there were 24,671 insurance claims for sinkhole damage, totaling a whopping $1.4 billion.
 
Can humans cause sinkholes? Yes. According to an interview with Randall Orndorff a U.S. Geological Survey supervisory geologist, human activities like drilling for a well or mining, which lower water levels underground, can cause sinkholes. So can putting up buildings and parking lots, he added, which changes where water drains. “Instead of the water naturally soaking into the ground, it's now running off and being concentrated—being put into the ground at one point," he said.
 
The massive sinkhole in Guatemala that was created in June 2010 is an example of one that was probably caused by human activity.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/05/17199807-when-the-earth-opens-up-why-its-sinkhole-season-in-florida?lite=

3/5/13
When the earth opens up: Why it's 'sinkhole season' in Florida

SEFFNER, Fla. - As crews entombed a man who was swallowed by a sinkhole near Tampa, the earth opened up again just a few miles away. On Tuesday, in a neighboring county, officials investigated reports of a home cracking, perhaps due to another sinkhole.

Across Florida this time of year, it's the start of what's unofficially considered the "sinkhole season," State Geologist Jonathan Arthur said. It coincides with the beginning of the state's rainy season and usually lasts until the end of summer.

"Florida is famous for bugs, alligators, pythons, hurricanes and now sinkholes," said Larry McKinnon, a Hillsborough sheriff's office spokesman. "I think our salvation is that for most of the time, our weather is picture-perfect."

But it's also the weather - along with man-made factors - that exacerbate sinkholes, experts said.

Arthur said February is usually when the state is at its driest, but it's also the start of the rainy season. Acidic rain can, over time, eat away the limestone and natural caverns that lie under much of the state, causing sinkholes. Both extremely dry weather and very wet weather can trigger sinkholes, he said.

"An extensive drought can cause soil and sediment over a cavity to be extremely dry and collapse," said Arthur.

On the other hand, following Tropical Storm Debby in 2012, dozens of sinkholes formed in counties north of Tampa because of the rain.

In Hillsborough County, an area particularly susceptible to sinkholes, 37-year-old Jeff Bush was killed last week when a hole opened up underneath his bedroom. Engineering experts have said it is too dangerous to retrieve Bush's body, so they demolished the home and filled the hole with gravel.

Hillsborough County is in a moderate drought, but engineers and county officials don't know exactly why the sinkhole formed in Seffner, and said they will likely never know.

The county has had 1.56 inches of rainfall since Jan. 1; it usually averages about 5.41 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

In Pinellas County, about 30 miles away from Seffner, fire-rescue workers in the community of Palm Harbor said they asked two people to evacuate a home after the residents reported "extensive cracking on the interior and exterior of the home." A county building inspector said the home was safe to live in, but the homeowner was seeking an engineer's opinion.

Arthur said he looked at 50 years of data and found that there is usually an uptick of reported sinkholes in February, with an increase until about July, when activity tapers off. December and January have typically low sinkhole activity.

Florida tracks naturally-occurring sinkholes and other ground collapses following a busted water main, development and groundwater pumping for crops.

In 2010, strawberry farmers in eastern Hillsborough County pumped water from the aquifer onto their crops during cold weather so that the water would freeze on the crops, creating a layer of ice that protects the berries.

So much water was pumped that more than 65 sinkholes opened in the area and wells went dry.

"When they take water out of the ground it's like taking air out of a balloon," said Bill Fernandez, a Florida sinkhole repair expert. "When you suck water out of the ground, you change the hydrostatic pressure underground and that's what can cause sinkholes."

Arthur added that moving a lot of dirt around for development can also trigger sinkholes. On Sunday in Largo, a failure in a pipe in a mall's stormwater control system under the parking lot caused the ground to collapse.

"There are a lot of variables," said Arthur. "Sinkholes are naturally occurring. Regardless of human activity they would occur."

Sinkhole explosive methane officially life threatening, residents not told

Officials advised the Assumption Parish President on Thursday that Bayou Corne sinkhole area has high levels of methane in nearby water wells, posing risks to health, fire and explosion and that residents need to heed the mandatory evacuation order. That day, parish officials postponed Saturday’s resident briefing with no explanation.
 
“Of the chemicals reviewed, only methane, detected in the industrial water wells, presents a potential health risk (Type 2 of fire/explosion),” Dr. Raoult Ratard, State Epidemiologist of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Office (DHH) of Public Health stated in an environmental data report of the Bayou Corne oil and gas sinkhole event sent to Assumption Parish President Martin S. Triche Thursday.
 
That morning, at 9:00 a.m., parish officials stated in a blog post developed to keep residents informed about the sinkhole incident, “*NOTE* The resident briefing scheduled for Saturday morning has been rescheduled for Tuesday, October 9, 2012 at the Command Post at 6:00 p.m.
 
Methane, the mysterious ‘powerful underground force’ reported by officials?
 
Speculations are increasing that methane is the mysterious “powerful underground force” wreaking havoc in south Louisiana, including the sinkhole disaster area.
 
Methane gas leaks are spreading throughout the south Louisiana area. Within four months, as of this week, methane bubbling sites have increased to twenty-eight, including in Pierre Part, outside the mandatory evacuation area but within hearing distance and jolts of seismic activities where foul chemical odors are nauseating and burning, as some residents there have reported.
 
When power flickered out a brief spell Friday night, one Pierre Part resident Alicia Heilig, 27, was too frightened to sleep.
 
Heilig lives near one of the latest detected bubbling sites, #16 on the parish map, and has struggled with her two children and mother being sick since the sinkhole gas incident and the smell of strong chemicals there began.
 
“I took a drive down to the sinkhole area to make sure it wasn’t anything to do with that,” Heilig told reporter Deborah Dupré in an email.
 
“That whole area is hazy,” Heilig wrote. “Almost like fog, but its not foggy anywhere else.”
 
A power truck was parked at the sinkhole area gas station, according to Heilig.

“Don’t know what’s up, but glad my kids aren’t home tonight,” she reported, further indicating the ongoing human rights to health and security violation.
 
Ratard stated in the Oct. 3 letter that high levels of methane have been detected in water wells in the sinkhole area, according to DHH that reviewed 11 samples and readings.
 
“With levels as high as 22,400, 26,600 and 27, 700 ug/L, it would appear immediate remediation is warranted,” DHH advises.

 
more(plus a bunch of videos in the link)
http://tatoott1009.com/2012/10/07/sinkhole-explosive-methane-officially-life-threatening-residents-not-told/

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/golf-devil-ball-golf/illinois-golfer-falls-sinkhole-middle-fairway-152444582--golf.html
3/12/13
Golfer falls into a sinkhole in the middle of an Illinois fairway

You know what's fun? Hitting your drive in the middle of the fairway. You know what isn't fun? Getting penalized for it. Most of the time that means your ball finds a divot, but one Illinois golfer found plenty more trouble out in the middle of a Waterloo, Ill. golf course fairway.
 
Mark Mihal, from Creve Coeur, Mo., was playing Annbriar Golf Course, a place he frequents, when ground gave way to the 43-year-old, dropping him 18 feet into the middle of a dirt abyss.
 

“I was standing in the middle of the fairway,” Mihal told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Monday. “Then, all of a sudden, before I knew it, I was underground.”
 
Immediately Mihal said he thought back to a story of a man that was sleeping when ground gave way and he was never recovered, but after 20 minutes, some rope and help from the course's general manager, he was pulled from the sinkhole and back on solid ground.
 
The story is just as crazy as it sounds. It was the first time something like this has ever happened at Annbriar Golf Course, a course that Mihal said he plays a lot because it's always in good shape, but it seems he might be avoiding it in the future. Mihal said after the incident that it might be too strange for him to return to the course because of what happened on No. 14, but come on, you're a golfer, we all have horror stories from golf courses! The difference is, most of our bad times end with the word "bogey," not "bon voyage."
 
I know that golfers normally get a rain check if the round gets washed away, but what's the appropriate response for a man that nearly disappeared in the turf of your track? Free golf for life? His own putting green in his back yard? A miner's helmet?
 
Lucky for everyone involved, Mihal suffered just a few bruises and a dislocated shoulder.
 

Pro_14:9  Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.

http://news.yahoo.com/sinkhole-opens-washington-jaded-humor-emerges-233107269.html
3/12/13
Sinkhole opens up in Washington and jaded humor emerges

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington is used to being the brunt of jokes, particularly those centered around the action, or lack of it, on Capitol Hill.
 
But on Tuesday, the focus moved to the Adams Morgan neighborhood, where some saw a symbol of Washington - a gaping sinkhole in the middle of a bustling sidewalk.
 
Unlike the fatal sinkhole that swallowed a man as he slept in his Seffner, Florida, home on February 28, or the one a golfer fell into on an Illinois fairway earlier this month, the Washington sinkhole is more on the order of a large pothole. Surrounded by yellow tape, it is about a yard (meter) square, as deep as 10 feetand sits a few miles from the White House, another frequent source of late-night television humor.
 
But the sinkhole quickly took on larger proportions as chatter erupted on social media.
 
"A sinkhole has opened in Washington D.C. Last to push their congressman in is a rotten egg," tweeted Bill O'Keefe.
 
"25 ft deep sinkhole in DC today and it's expanding. Seems like I got out at the right time. It was nice knowing you, Washington," tweeted T.C. Sottek.
 
Metropolitan Police were dispatched to the sinkhole site, and local residents said the problem might be due to a new sewer that had just been installed.
 
"If that is the case, it would be typical of this kind of sinkhole collapse," said Jim Kaufmann, a research physical scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey.
 
Sinkholes are not uncommon, Kaufman said, because about 20 percent of the United States sits atop what is known as karst terrain, regions where rock below the surface can be naturally dissolved by groundwater. Hot areas for sinkholes are Florida, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.
 
In a city like Washington, they can be traced to something as innocuous as a leaking pipe that erodes sediment below the surface, Kaufmann said by phone from Rolla, Missouri. They also are common after long dry spells followed by rainy periods.
 
Even Kaufmann initially saw the humor in Washington's encounter with the phenomenon.
 
"It's not on Capitol Hill, is it?," he asked.

La. ‘Sinkhole’ Warnings, Contingency Plan Enacted: Deadly Hydrogen Sulfide, 2nd Sinkhole, Increased Instability

(http://beforeitsnews.com/contributor/upload/10690/images/Unknown-10.jpg)

Gov. Jindal warned Monday at a meeting in Baton Rouge with officials that deadly hydrogen sulfide could be released and another sinkhole could form if Texas Brine LLC’s second failing cavern collapses and he warned about increased instability in the Napoleonville Salt Dome, also collapsing.

A Contingency Plan has been enacted after learning that the company's second failing cavern is "less than" 200 feet from the salt dome outer wall.

The area will soon be a National Sacrifice Zone, whether or not the governor succeeds with his pressuring Texas Brine to buy out residents, as he said Monday that he is doing.

Second failing cavern less than 200 feet from collapsing salt dome edge, Contingency Plan now in Green Status

A Contingency Plan is now in place in the "sinkhole' disaster area after learning Texas Brine's second failing cavern is only 200 feet from the edge of the collapsing 1-mile by 3-mile Napoleonville Salt Dome.

"The proposed contingency plan is based upon three color levels (green, yellow, and red) of potential seismic activity associated with the Oxy-Geismar No. 1 and the related action level as described below," the Continency Plan text reads. "The response is currently in green status." (See the full Contingency Plan below)

http://beforeitsnews.com/gulf-oil-spill/2013/03/la-sinkhole-warning-contingency-plan-enacted-deadly-hydrogen-sulfide-2nd-sinkhole-increased-instability-2441090.html

Another Man Swallowed By A Sinkhole, This Time On A Golf Course In Illinois

http://www.businessinsider.com/illinois-golfer-swallowed-by-sinkhole-2013-3#ixzz2NLnxGKdz

He got a hole in one (http://rationalwiki.org/w/images/0/0e/Drum.gif)

 :D

Okay, so having played golf a little years ago, the rules on this get a little...sketchy!

So is that part of the course and the shot played where it lies, or is that considered an obstacle and he gets a free drop?

I think he's going to need a "hand wedge" to get it up and down!


http://golf.about.com/cs/rulesofgolf/a/rfaq_unplayable.htm (http://golf.about.com/cs/rulesofgolf/a/rfaq_unplayable.htm)

From the USGA, looks like he has to take a 1_stroke penalty, then choose the option to go back to his previous spot, or as far back as is playable... ;D


http://www.usga.org/Rule-Books/Rules-of-Golf/Rule-25/ (http://www.usga.org/Rule-Books/Rules-of-Golf/Rule-25/)

Officials: ‘Spasmodic burst’ near giant sinkhole — Around 100 micro quakes reported overnight
http://enenews.com/expert-spasmodic-burst-giant-sinkhole-increased-seismic-activity-reported
3/13/13
Dr. Horton has reported a “spasmodic burst” which occurred at 1:34 this morning with 90+ micro earthquakes happening overnight. In addition, there were several observable long periods (VLP) events recorded on seismic monitor LA12. Dr. Horton and Dr. Pettit are working to locate the events currently.

We will post updates as information becomes available.

(http://enenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/img_293-Mar.-13-14.25-300x187.jpg)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrdWwIA0Gg4

3/20/13
Sinkhole Swallows Pond: How Do Sinkholes Occur? (VIDEO)

Residents have been left concerned after a sinkhole swallowed up a pond on Sunday stunning locals in Newcastle, California.
 
Local landowner, Mark Korb, has said he woke up on Sunday morning only to find the man-made pond on his land had completely disappeared, apparently it had drained away due to a massive sinkhole beneath the land.
 
The sinkhole managed to drain the entire pond just overnight, with Korb saying, "I would guess probably four to five hours for this whole area to drain."
 
The report comes just weeks after two massive sinkholes in Florida stunned the nation, with one of them swallowing up a man as he lay in his bedroom.
 
So what are sinkholes and how do they occur?
 
Sinkholes are basically depressions in the ground that form over time due to the combined forces of erosion and gravity. They have been known to reveal themselves gradually over time, although sometimes, like the cases in Florida, they can cause sudden collapses.

Scientists say that sinkholes are usually caused by the water that flows below the topsoil. The water turns acidic from absorbing carbon dioxide and participating in botanical processes; when it eventually flows down into the bedrock, it begins to erode the structural integrity of the stone formations below.
 
Sinkholes are also well know to be found in areas where the bedrock is made of a soft mineral, such as limestone or gypsum.
 
Generally speaking there are three main types of naturally caused sinkholes:
 
A Cover-collapse sinkhole
 This type of sinkhole occurs where the overburden is made of soft material, like clay. As caverns form in the bedrock below, pieces of the overburden tumble into the empty space, making the topsoil level weaker and weaker, until it eventually caves in.
 
A Cover-subsidence sinkhole
 This type of sinkhole is usually characterized by small dimensions, the abundant presence of water and a gradual collapse.
 
A Dissolution (or solution) sinkhole
 These don't exactly sink, but rather the overburden washes away, exposing the bedrock to erosion.
 
Here is a video of a 3D animation showing how sinkholes form:

Video clip inside link

One sinkhole in Florida recently gained international media coverage, after a man was sucked down into a hole that suddenly opened up under his bedroom.
 
The man's family members reported that they were all preparing for bed when they heard a loud crashing sound and then the man screaming as he was sucked down into the hole.
 
That sinkhole measured about 30 feet wide and 60 feet deep, and since it opened up it has become filled with clay and debris.
 
Officials have stated that despite a thorough search it is highly unlikely that the man's body will ever be recovered from the hole.
 
The home was bulldozed to the ground, and officials will now move to stabilize the sinkhole so it does not cause any further issues to the other residents in the area.
 
Already two other houses nearby the sinkhole home have been evacuated through fears that they too could collapse, as the foundations below the structures have been significantly weakened.
 
Here is a video news report into the new California sinkhole:

Video clip inside link

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/sinkhole-swallows-pond-how-do-sinkholes-occur-video-92275/#HR4Bm11YZbbLYvC5.99

http://now.msn.com/sinkhole-in-louisiana-swallows-neighborhood
9-acre king of all sinkholes threatens to swallow a whole neighborhood
3/21/13

Sinkholes, bow before your unmerciful king. A collapsing salt mine has caused a nine-acre sinkhole in Louisiana, one that is threatening an entire neighborhood. Residents are being evacuated, and the company that owns the mine, Texas Brine, is paying them $875 a week for temporary housing costs. The Lord of the Sinkholes appeared Aug. 3 and is still growing. Scientists monitoring it say a second cavern may be collapsing. "They caused this damage, and certainly we'll be aggressive in making sure that they pay their bills," Gov. Bobby Jindal says of Texas Brine

I don't know if that company can pay for all the damage. It's not a HUGE company, and what is taking place is HUGE expenses.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2013/03/14/284741.htm (http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2013/03/14/284741.htm)

Posting this here is b/c this somewhat ties in with sinkholes being discussed in this thread(even though the article doesn't mention sinkholes).

IMHO, they tie in together b/c one of the reasons why sinkholes are growing over America is b/c this debt-laden country just doesn't have the money anymore to fix their infrastructures. Same is going for the infrastructures of US roads and bridges. Remember the big bridge collapse in Minnesota 7 years ago? That was due to lack of funding to maintain it.

http://money.msn.com/now/post.aspx?post=66445ffc-05ba-44fd-bb56-2b74b8936e19
US roads, bridges and other utilities get a D+ grade
3/22/13

Any parent knows that a D+ grade is rarely something to cheer about. But when the D+ is awarded to the overall state of America's national infrastructure, that's apparently good news.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' 2013 Report Card for America's Infrastructure showed slight progress over the D grade it gave the nation's bridges, roads, public utilities, water supplies and other essential systems during the last report in 2009.

This marks the first time the society, which began issuing its reports in 1998, has noted an improvement in national infrastructure. Until now, the grades have been near-failing and averaging a D -- due to what the Society calls "delayed maintenance and underinvestment."

The report looks across a wide spectrum of infrastructure issues. For 2013, it ranged from a high of B- for solid waste, to a low of D- for inland waterways and levees. Along with solid waste, drinking water, waste water, roads and bridges all saw slight improvements. And, just as important, no categories declined in grade compared to the last report.

In its executive summary, the report card says the improvements show what can be accomplished by sound investment in infrastructure. For example, it notes, greater private investment improved the connectivity and efficiency of rail transportation -- while new efforts on the city and state level addressed urgent work needed for some vulnerable bridges. Several areas of infrastructure also benefited from short-term increases in federal funding.

Gregory DiLoreto, the society's president, says Americans need to be proactive in taking care of national infrastructure – not only as a legacy, but to help keep the economy on a sound footing.“The reason why we want to make improvements to our infrastructure is not just simply to improve the grade,” he said on the society's website.

“Investment in our infrastructure will help grow our economy; it will create jobs and improve our quality of life,” he added. “It means being able to get to work easier without sitting in traffic all day long; and continuing to enjoy safe, clean and reliable drinking water anywhere in the country; and having an electrical transmission grid with fewer or no blackouts.”

The report card concludes that, if we are to raise our national infrastructure grades to acceptable levels across all 16 sectors touched on in the report, $3.6 trillion in total investment is needed by 2020. At the moment, total infrastructure spending in the U.S. is projected at around $2 trillion.

More on moneyNOW

Unexplained huge crack forming on the Navajo Nation

Luepp, Arizona - It's not something you see every day on the Navajo Nation, but a crack in the earth has been forming for a long time now and no one seems to have a clear answer. It just sits east of Flagstaff on Luepp Rd and about one mile west of Leupp gas station.

It's gotten so big that they had to fenced it in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8_NJXv9U92w

According to the U.S. geological survey, they say earthquakes come and go in the northern parts of Arizona, which also covers the reservation, it's not big enough to rattle down buildings but with the recent collapse of highway 89 near Page, some local residences wonder what mother nature has in mind for the vast reservation.

On March 18, we reached out to the Navajo Nation land and geology department, they did not have a particular person to give us an answer, so no one was readily available to explain what that huge gash was in the earth.

http://www.sott.net/article/260118-Unexplained-huge-crack-forming-on-the-Navajo-Nation

Cracks in the ground like that are apparently rather common in Arizona.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/24/17441852-new-sinkhole-in-same-fla-town-where-man-was-killed?lite=
3/24/13
New sinkhole in same Fla. town where man was killed

Just weeks after a sinkhole swallowed a Florida man, killing him in his sleep in his Seffner home, another sinkhole has opened between two houses in the same town.

The latest sinkhole appeared in the 1400 block of Lake Shore Ranch Drive around 7 p.m. Saturday. It's estimated to be about 8 feet in diameter and 10 feet deep, according to WFLA.

Both homes on either side of the hole were evacuated as a precaution.

Seffner is the town where 37-year-old Jeff Bush was swallowed by a sinkhole that completely demolished his bedroom three weeks ago. Five others who were in the house escaped unharmed.

That sinkhole was estimated to be 20 feet wide and 20 feet deep. The house was later demolished.

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2013/03/26/officials-investigate-cause-behind-massive-earth-split-in-brazil/
3/26/13
Officials investigate cause behind massive earth-split in Brazil

March 26, 2013 – BRAZIL – The cause of massive land collapse in Brazil is being investigated. The prosecutor Douglas Roberto Ribeiro de Magalhaes Chegury is investigating the cause of environmental disasters in the cities of Santo Domingo and Campos Belos, Goias in the Northeast. Since yesterday (14/3), surveys are being carried out by the technical-skills expert prosecutors in places, where geological disasters, were generated by the collapse of land. This information will educate the public civil inquiries, which will proceed through the Prosecutor’s Office and Justice of São Domingos Campos Belos to liability for damages. According to Chegury, in early February, shortly after becoming aware of the environmental disaster in the Serra Geral, which divides the states of Goiás, Tocantins and Bahia; the civil investigation was initiated due to public outcry. The prosecutor has even visited the disaster site, and collected samples of water and land that could be contaminated with chemicals and pesticides. With the collapse, the flood of mud, stones and earth opened up a crater approximately 7 km, running almost 200 meters to the east of the Mosquito River, a major Northeastern Goiás and Tocantins Southeast. The prosecutor also informed the public that another investigation was initiated in Santo Domingo for determining liability for any environmental damage over the Serra Geral, similar to what happened in Upper Landing. On site, there was a landslide that hit the east of the São Vicente, which passes Terra Ronca State Park; the most extensive areas of environmental preservation of Goiás, with approximately 60 000 hectares, endangering fish species endangering the Sao Vicente cave complex.

"7km" long? Looks like a fault rather than a "crater".

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/27/17488774-massive-landslide-in-washington-state-damages-home-threatens-others?lite
3/27/13
Massive landslide in Washington state damages home, threatens others

Residents reportedly heard what sounded like thunder before a massive landslide on an island in Washington state, which damaged one home and threatened or isolated dozens more.

The slide occurred about 4:15 a.m. on the west side of Whidbey Island near the town of Coupeville, NBC station KING 5 reported. No one was injured.

Dramatic pictures showed one home off its foundation on a bluff. It had moved several hundred feet, Deputy Chief Chad Michael of Central Whidbey and Rescue told NBC News.

Other home owners lost large sections of their yards to the slide, and at least one house was now perched precariously with only a 10-foot strip of ground separating it from a large drop to the shoreline of Puget Sound, an inland sea dotted with numerous islands.

A road along the base of the bluff near the beach was closed and power and water were cut off to homes. The closure of the road isolated 17 houses, Michael said.

All told, 25 homes were effected by the slide.

Emergency workers were attempting to access parts of the damaged area through property owned by Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer, KING 5 reported.

The Red Cross has set up a relief center for residents who had to flee their homes. Evacuations continued through the morning.

It was unclear what triggered Wednesday's slide, but winter rains are known to saturate bluffs along Puget Sound's shoreline, putting pressure on high slopes and causing the earth to move.

The state warns people interested in buying shoreline property about the landslide hazards.

Coupeville is about 50 miles northwest of Seattle.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2013/03/28/286395.htm
3/28/13
Louisiana Sinkhole Expands Again

About 25 trees fell into the Assumption Parish, La., sinkhole and officials say a new crack formed Monday night in a well pad south of the lake-like slurry hole.

The Advocate reports experts working for the state Office of Conservation believe the collapse and cracked well pad are linked to now-calmed seismic events from late last week.

Because of that connection, agency officials said the discovery did not halt work around the sinkhole and the area remains in emergency officials’ lowest “alert” status.

Parish officials also estimated that the edge collapse, or slough-in, probably bit off a quarter-acre from the formerly 13-acre sinkhole’s southeastern edge.

The sinkhole is located in swamps between the Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou communities and has required the continued evacuation of more than 350 people in those areas.

A failed Texas Brine Co. LLC cavern in the Napoleonville Dome is suspected of causing the sinkhole and related consequences. The cracked surface pad had been used for the original access well to the failed cavern, Oxy Geismar No. 3.

Early on Friday, experts detected an uptick in “very long period” tremors, a type of stretched-out seismic event, that have been linked to fluid and gas movement underground.

The tremors were detected under the sinkhole and around the failed Texas Brine cavern.

Past increases in tremors sometimes have preceded slough-ins and burps by the growing sinkhole.

The edge collapse happened roughly opposite from a nearly 1-acre slough-in on the western edge of the sinkhole that followed other tremors earlier this month.

That earlier slough-in, combined with other measurement changes, had boosted the sinkhole’s area to 13 acres.

The new crack is in an out-of-use ramp connecting the well pad to the sinkhole. The crack is parallel to the sinkhole’s southern edge.

Landslide forces 300 to evacuate
3/27/13

SUBANG JAYA: ABOUT 300 residents of Pangsapuri Beringin  in Puchong, here had to vacate their apartment units yesterday when a nearby hillslope  collapsed for the second time this year.

The first incident occurred on Feb 19 and residents claimed that repairs were completed late, which resulted in the second landslide about 4.30pm yesterday.

They said an official from the Subang Jaya Municipal Council had directed residents of Block B of the apartments to evacuate to a hall nearby.

Resident Siti Zaleha Dalli, 38, described this landslide as even worse than the first one.

"I was told about the incident at about 4.30pm by my son before I noticed that a large part of the hill slope next to the building had collapsed. I was made to understand that a sewage pipe and a water pipe had burst, which aggravated the situation. The landslide was very near my unit," said Siti Zaleha, who expressed disappointment at the slow pace of repairs following the first landslide.

"When such things happen, we cannot sleep peacefully for fear that our lives may be in danger. If it rains, we will be more worried because the soil will sink."

Another resident, L. Vijayan, 31, also expressed disappointment claiming repairs on the temporary retaining wall were a short-term solution.

"About 2am, I came to learn that there was a burst pipe.

"It was raining heavily then, but I did not expect the situation to turn this bad because I thought the temporary retaining wall could sustain the pressure."

A check revealed that a section of the landslide had affected the back of a row of terrace-houses located near Block B.

Assistant Director of Operations of the Selangor Fire and Rescue Department Mohd Sani Harul said there were no casualties.

The cause of the incident was still being investigated. Bernama

(http://www.nst.com.my/polopoly_fs/1.242723.1364318092!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_454/image.jpg)

Read more: Landslide forces 300 to evacuate - General - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/landslide-forces-300-to-evacuate-1.242721#ixzz2OtlmKzU7

http://news.yahoo.com/china-landslide-buries-83-tibet-gold-mine-area-153622033.html
China: Landslide buries 83 in Tibet gold mine area
3/29/13

BEIJING (AP) — A massive landslide engulfed a gold mining area in mountainous Tibet, burying 83 workers believed to have been asleep early Friday morning, Chinese state media said.

About 2 million cubic meters (2.6 million cubic yards) of mud, rock and debris swept through the area as the workers were resting and covered an area measuring around 4 square kilometers (1.5 square miles), China Central Television said.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the workers in Lhasa's Maizhokunggar county worked for a subsidiary of the China National Gold Group Corp., a state-owned enterprise and the country's largest gold producer.

The disaster is likely to inflame critics of Chinese rule in Tibet who say Beijing's interests are driven by the region's mineral wealth and strategic position and come at the expense of the region's delicate ecosystem and Tibetans' Buddhist culture and traditional way of life.

The reports said at least two of the buried workers were Tibetan while most of the workers were believed to be ethnic Han Chinese, a reflection of how such large projects often create an influx of the majority ethnic group into the region.

More than 1,000 police, firefighters, soldiers and medics have been deployed to the site, about 70 kilometers (45 miles) east of Lhasa, the regional capital. They conducted searches armed with devices to detect signs of life and accompanied by sniffer dogs, reports said.

Around 30 excavators were also digging away at the site late Friday as temperatures fell to just below freezing.

The reports said the landslide was caused by a "natural disaster" but did not provide specifics. It was unclear why the first news reports of the landslide came out several hours after it occurred.

China's recently appointed President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang ordered authorities to "spare no efforts" in their rescue work, Xinhua said.

County officials reached by phone confirmed the landslide but had no further details, saying that information reaching the main office was limited due to poor cellphone coverage at the site. Calls to the company's general phone line rang unanswered.

Doctors at the local county hospital said they had been told to prepare to receive survivors but none had arrived. "We were ordered to make all efforts to receive the injured," said a doctor who gave only her surname, Ge, in the hospital's emergency section.

Ge said the hospital transferred some of its patients to other facilities to increase the number of beds available and that 16 doctors were on duty.

The Chinese government has been encouraging development of mining and other industries in long-isolated Tibet as a way to promote its economic growth and raise living standards. The region has abundant deposits of copper, chromium, bauxite and other precious minerals and metals and is one of fast-growing China's last frontiers.

Tibet remains among China's poorest regions despite producing a large share of its minerals. A key source of anti-Chinese anger is complaints by local residents that they get little of the wealth extracted by government companies, most of which flows to distant Beijing.

In 2008, unhappiness with Chinese rule spilled over into deadly riots that engulfed Lhasa and an anti-government uprising that swept many Tibetan communities. To quell the unrest, Beijing poured security forces into Tibetan areas and has kept them there since, giving the western China region the feel of a military garrison and further alienating many Tibetans.

In recent years, more than 100 Tibetans have set themselves on fire to protest the stifling security presence and call for greater religious freedom.

White Cliffs collapse: Tonnes of chalk crash from world famous landmark into the Channel near Dover

Stretch of cliff between Dover and Deal in Kent collapsed
High winds and rain freezing have been blamed for the landslip
The National Trust has put up warning signs for walkers

They are one of the most iconic symbols of British independence and the inspiration for one of the most famous wartime songs.

But walkers have been warned to take care when walking along a stretch of the famous White Cliffs of Dover after tonnes of chalk crashed into the English Channel when part of the cliff-face sheared off.

A giant mound of clay was left on the shore near St Margaret's Bay after the collapse between between Dover and Deal in Kent.

Dover Coastguard said a bench and fencing which sat on the cliff-top were also sent tumbling to the base, prompting warnings to coastal walkers.

Fortunately, no one was hurt.
 
The collapse is thought to have been caused by a combination of high winds and rain freezing after being absorbed into the chalk and then expanding, causing the cliff to weaken.

A similar collapse saw a chunk of the cliff-face slip in March last year.


A Dover Coastguard spokesman said: 'There was a similar fall in 2012 but this one is smaller than that one. A bench and fence have gone down with it.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2298504/White-Cliffs-collapse-Tonnes-chalk-crash-world-famous-landmark-Channel-near-Dover.html#ixzz2OxAFed84

http://theadvocate.com/home/5510933-125/tremors-at-bayou-corne-salt
Tremors at Bayou Corne salt dome halt work again Friday
4/1/13

The head of Louisiana’s Department of Natural Resources named 13 scientists and other experts Friday to serve on a blue-ribbon commission tasked with determining the long-term stability of the area around northern Assumption Parish’s sinkhole.

The 13-acre sinkhole and consequences of its emergence and continued growth, such as methane trapped under the Bayou Corne area, have forced the evacuation of 350 residents for more than seven months.

The sinkhole, found in swamps between Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou on Aug. 3, is believed to have been caused by a failed Texas Brine Co. LLC cavern mined into the Napoleonville Dome.

Members of the new panel are being asked to set up scientifically based benchmarks in regard to the sinkhole and then determine when they have been met in order to give assurances that the Bayou Corne area is safe for the return of evacuated residents.

“The work of this commission is crucial to the future of public safety in the Bayou Corne area,” DNR Secretary Stephen Chustz said in a prepared statement announcing the 13 appointments.

“We must ensure we have done all that we can to get the right people to provide the right answers in making recommendations for the future of the people who want to return,” Chustz said.

The secretary made the appointments in consultation with Jim Welsh, state Commissioner of Conservation, and Kevin Davis, director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, the statement says. The Office of Conservation is part of DNR.

Gov. Bobby Jindal called for formation of the commission earlier this month after meeting with Assumption Parish public officials and Texas Brine executives about the sinkhole.

DNR officials said in a statement that the blue-ribbon commission’s first meeting will be held in early April. Patrick Courreges, DNR spokesman, has said some of the group’s meetings would be public, but it was not clear Friday if the panel’s inaugural session would be open to the public or not.

Underscoring the lingering concerns about the growing sinkhole and when it may stabilize, yet another round of seismic activity forced parish officials to halt work around the sinkhole Friday morning for the second time in a little more than a week, officials said.

John Boudreaux, Assumption Parish’s director of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said the seismic activity was detected about 7 a.m. Friday under the sinkhole and the failed Texas Brine cavern.

Seismic monitors detected an increase Friday in the “very long period” tremors that scientists have said indicate fluid and gas movement below the sinkhole, parish officials said in a blog post.

Parish officials added that Friday’s seismic activity was limited to the sinkhole and the Texas Brine cavern. The activity appears to have had no effect on a second Texas Brine cavern nearby for which structural concerns recently have been raised, parish officials said.

Water movement in the sinkhole and increased bubbling along its western edge were also detected Friday, the post says.

Boudreaux said work was stopped within the 71-acre area surrounded by a berm mandated to encircle the sinkhole. The shutdown area took in the sinkhole’s lake-like surface.

He said crews had been working on oil retardant boom on the sinkhole at the time the work was stopped about 8:30 a.m. Friday.

But he said work related to 3-D seismic surveying of the subsurface — which involves the firing of small, buried explosive charges — continued Friday because it is outside the berm area.

The new blue-ribbon panel members include some of the experts who already have been working on the sinkhole under contract to the state Office of Conservation or on a scientific working group monitoring the sinkhole.

Members Gary Hecox, senior CB&I hydrogeologist, and Will Pettitt, an Itasca Group rock mechanic expert, both have delivered presentations to residents and the state Legislature about the sinkhole.

Working group members include David Borns, Sandia National Laboratories Geotechnology and Engineering Program manager, and Thomas Van Biersel, DNR hydrogeologist and a former Louisiana Geological Survey professor at LSU. Van Biersel is coordinating the sinkhole working group, DNR officials said.

Sandia researches salt domes for the federal Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which stores the nation’s emergency supply of crude oil in Louisiana and Texas salt domes.

Chustz said in the statement Friday that while experts around the world were sought, the panel includes scientists who already have been working on the sinkhole as well as a Bayou Corne-area resident selected, “to ensure that the members share our sense of urgency.”

Before Friday’s work stoppage, a burst of early morning tremors on March 13 caused work to be halted for about a day inside the same berm area.

That halt was followed by one of the sinkhole’s periodic burps on Sunday morning, when oil and debris surfaced, as well as the collapse of 0.95 of an acre of land on the sinkhole’s western edge.

The sinkhole’s surface is believed to be about 13 acres in size with the addition of that last slough-in and with a re-estimation of the sinkhole’s remaining edge, which added a few acres of surface also.

Safe to return? Uh, there's a giant methane and oil pocket under there. What part of that is safe?  ::)

http://www.wafb.com/story/21863521/gas-found-under-slab-of-home-near-sinkhole
Gas found under slabs of 2 homes near sinkhole
4/3/13

BAYOU CORNE, LA (WAFB) -
Contractors reported finding the presence of gas under two homes near the massive sinkhole in southeast Louisiana.

The Assumption Parish Police Jury Blog posted at 9:45 a.m. that Texas Brine verified gas is located under the slab of both the home and the shed at one location. There was another post at 10:20 a.m. stating gas had been discovered under the slab of a second home.

Both homes are on Sauce Piquante Lane in Bayou Corne. Officials said monitoring will continue to check for gas in the area.

It's been exactly 9 months since the sinkhole, now 12-acres wide, first appeared in the middle of Bayou Corne.

"I don't want to live like that. I want to leave, and Texas Brine needs to buy my family out," said Jennifer Gregoire.

Gregoire is one of dozens of Bayou Corne homeowners with air monitors in their houses. She is one of three who also have holes drilled through their floors---testing for possible gases below the foundation. On Wednesday, Texas Brine verified gas has been found under two homes on Sauce Piquante Lane—including Gregoire's.

"I'm sitting on the couch, clinching the dog---like oh my God we're about to just go up in flames," said Gregoire. "Then they turn around and, 'everything will be okay.' You ask a question, and it's not even the answer you were expecting. Swamp gas? Really?"

Testing is still being done to determine what those gases are and what effect they may have.

"I'm just wondering what all of this is going to mean now," said Dennis Landry.

Landry lives and owns a business on the other side of highway 70. Unlike Gregoire, he wants to stay.

"Myself and most of my neighbors on Sportsman's Drive are inclined to stay," said Landry. "It would take a buyout where they offer three or four times the value…the pre-sinkhole value of our homes."

Inspectors have been visiting homes around Bayou Corne, as the first step in determining values and beginning the buyout process.  So far no dollar amounts have been mentioned. As for a timetable, a Texas Brine spokesperson tells us homeowners can expect offers 30 to 45 days after the completion of appraisals, which will come after the inspections are complete.

Parish emergency operations director John Boudreaux says another resident on Sauce Piquante Lane reported bubbling in the bayou---north of the street. He says they have sent samples of that water off for further testing.

Work is again on hold near the sinkhole site due to more tremors. Seismic monitors picked up the activity early Tuesday morning. The devices are taking readings around the clock to determine when it's safe for crews to get back to work.

Meanwhile, the sinkhole commission created by the state of Louisiana government will hold a public meeting this Friday to discuss safety.

The meeting is open to the public. It will take place at the Woods Auditorium on the LSU campus from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m.

Bubbles were spotted in Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou in June 2012. Two months later, the ground opened up and left a nine-acre sinkhole. Residents were evacuated and have been for the past seven months. Most affected residents began receiving weekly checks from Texas-Brine in the amount of $875 per week. The sinkhole is now around 14 acres in size.

On March 13, Texas-Brine, the Houston based company that owns the salt dome that caused the sinkhole, announced it would begin assessing the homes and offering buyouts and settlements for the 350 people evacuated.

The Russian city being 'eaten alive': Cars, buses, and trucks disappear beneath the earth as they are swallowed by giant sinkholes

•Citizens of Samara live in daily fear of the ground disappearing beneath them
•Dozens of holes have sprung up across the city in recent weeks
•The sinkholes have left a trail of devastation and reportedly claimed one life

4/9/13

They may look like stills from an apocalyptic horror film, but these images have become a daily reality for residents in a Russian city.

Citizens of Samara, in south east Russia, live in fear of the ground literally disappearing beneath them after huge sinkholes have started to appear all over their city, leaving devastation in their wake.

The yawning underground caverns are all believed to have sprung up in recent weeks swallowing cars, buses and claiming at least one life.

The sinkholes, some large enough to swallow an entire truck, are believed to have been caused by ground subsidence.

It is thought the holes have been caused as ice thaws and melts into the ground, with the excess water causing soil decay underneath Samara's roads.

The massive craters have appeared in car parks, busy intersections, by the sides of roads, and on major and minor thoroughfares.

It is believed at least one person has lost their life as a result of one of the crashes caused by the sinkholes.

The citizens of the city have now signed a petition urging authorities to find a solution.

Sinkholes are common hazards in mining regions, plaguing areas where miners have burrowed into layers of soluble minerals and accidental floods have followed.

But natural sinkholes can take thousands of years to form and vary in size.

They are usually the result of what are known as Karst processes, which occur when a layer of rock such as limestone underneath the ground is dissolved by acidic water.

Typically rainfall seeps through the soil, absorbing carbon dioxide and reacting with decaying vegetation. As a result, the water that reaches the soluble rock is acidic.


The acidic water then erodes the soluble rock layers beneath the surface creating cavernous spaces.

Then,  when it is no longer supported because of the cavity below, the soil or sand over the limestone collapses into a sinkhole.


The collapse of the surface can happen suddenly or over a few hours. Heavy rainfall or poor drainage systems can trigger a collapse.

Citizens in Berezniki, Russia, have also been plagued by sinkholes.

Census data, though, shows that about 12,000 people left the town between 2005 and 2010, after a number of holes opened up.

They are also common in Florida, America.

Jeff Bush, 37, was swallowed into a sinkhole and killed while he slept in his bed in February in the
 Tampa Bay area of Florida.

Lots of pictures in the link above

Giant sinkhole splits ground in central region of Portugal
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2013/04/11/giant-sinkhole-splits-ground-in-central-region-of-portugal/
4/11/13

April 11, 2013 – PORTUGAL - Excess water in the soil may be the cause of geological phenomenon occurred in Marvão in Alto Alentejo, which resulted in the opening of a crater about 100 meters deep and 17 meters in diameter. The geologist Victor Lambert explained this Tuesday that this is “a typical phenomenon” of areas where there is limestone and soil conditions exist, though in Portugal nothing has appeared of this size.” The geologist, who develops work for research institutions and ornamental rocks, reported in the local area that has Marvão caves and type of existing rock (limestone) tends to ‘dissolve,’ forming caves. “Here in Marvão, we had lots of rain a year. The water in these structures infiltrates, circulating inside, and in lime, circulates at high speeds, ie, the impact may cause is greater,” explained. However, the geologist pointed out that the crater in Marvão is interesting, because of the size and depth and’ three small holes,” but was keen to stress that this case is not an incident of aliens. The massive hole opened up on private property near the village of Porto da Espada, where another smaller crater has also formed. Authorities have erected barricaded around the massive crater for safety concerns. Speaking to Lusa, Mario Gallego, the tenant of the property where the phenomenon occurred, said he was “surprised” by the situation and considered it “scary.” The Mayor of Marvão, Victor Frutuoso, told Lusa that the council wants to know the ‘impacts’ that the incident will have on the environment. “We have to know the impact this might have in terms of stability with respect to property that is accessed by people. Therefore, we have to control a number of situations in terms of security and realize what the consequences are for transportation concerns,” he said. With a security perimeter created and with elements of the GNR in place, the area has been subject to visits by locals who are curious to see the geological phenomenon firsthand.

1 person hospitalized after sinkhole swallows 3 cars in Chicago -

A sinkhole swallowed three cars in the South Deering neighborhood on the Southeast Side early Thursday morning.
 
One person was taken from the hole, at 9600 South Houston Avenue, to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in serious-to-critical condition, according to the Chicago Fire Department.
 
The fire department responded to the scene around 5:30 a.m. when two cars were inside the hole. A third one slide into it after crews arrived.


(http://www.trbimg.com/img-516fe08c/turbine/chi-sinkhole-swallows-3-cars-20130418-001/580/580x326)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-sinkhole-swallows-3-cars-20130418,0,4497819.story

http://theadvocate.com/home/5745951-125/increase-in-tremors-and-another
More tremors, another edge collapse at sinkhole
4/22/13

The massive sinkhole in northern Assumption Parish had another burp and edge collapse Thursday morning after tremors had remained at an elevated frequency and halted work in and around it the past few days, parish officials said. But parish officials said that by Thursday afternoon, the micro-earthquakes near the Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou communities known as sharp tremors had calmed down and precautions halting work were eased. While there was no formal estimate of how much swampland collapsed Thursday, John Boudreaux, director of the parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said the new collapse area is roughly 25 feet by 100 feet. The formerly forested swatch is on the east side of the more than 13-acre, 160-foot deep sinkhole, north of a well pad being used for sinkhole access and seismic monitoring, he said. Boudreaux said trees went into the sinkhole Thursday morning and he was able to see and record — from the well pad — one of the trees going “straight down” into the hole. “It doesn’t fall. It sinks,” he said. A few more trees toppled over later in the day, Boudreaux said.

Scientists believe the failure of a Texas Brine Co. salt dome cavern led to the formation of the sinkhole last year. About 350 residents have been evacuated more than eight months due to the sinkhole and oil and gas venting from deep sources unleashed by the cavern failure. Boudreaux said earlier this week that an increase in micro-earthquakes from about 10 per day to 50 per day prompted a halt in work inside the sinkhole berm beginning Sunday. The micro-earthquakes indicate rocks breaking deep underground. The berm contains 71 acres that includes the sinkhole and surrounding swamp. By Thursday afternoon, once tremors subsided, work was only prohibited on the sinkhole surface, Boudreaux said.

He said that in addition to the tremors, slough-off and burp, water was moving in the sinkhole but that movement stopped later Thursday when tremors subsided. In a presentation to an expert panel on the sinkhole earlier this month, CB&I hydrogeologist Gary Hecox described for scientists how water in and around the sinkhole moves during burps, “sloshing” with a tidal-like action. “So essentially during one of these burp events, the water inside the berm is active,” Hecox said. “It moves back and forth, which requires a lot of energy to do that, and we think that’s why the bottom is constantly changing.”

To view video, please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2fTSCBgSNI

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-video/expanding-sinkhole-diverts-traffic/1414610949001
Expanding Sinkhole in Houston, TX Diverts Traffic
What began as a 12-inch sinkhole has expanded to 18 feet in diameter and an estimated 20 feet deep.

Video inside link

Large sinkhole closes intersection in San Francisco


A 22-foot-long sinkhole opened up Monday night at the intersection of Lake Street and Second Avenue in San Francisco, according to KGO.

The intersection is located on the border of the Inner Richmond and the Presidio Heights neighborhoods.

The sinkhole is 8 feet wide and 22 feet long, the television station reported. It is not yet known how deep the sinkhole is and there has been no disruption to water or sewer service in the area.

City officials say a broken sewer pipe might be to blame< according to KGO.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_23188710/large-sinkhole-closes-intersection-san-francisco

The Louisiana sink hole is right in the tag area for one of the gator hunters, Troy, of the show "Swamp People". They had an episode last show of the hole, and they showed how the area was bubbling all over the place, and they were in their boats about a half mile away (they live in the Pierre Part area). But that was when the hole was less than an acre, now it's over 13 acres.

No doubt that hole is permanent, now where there was land, it's now deep water. The bigger problem is all that stuff underground that the water in the hole is holding back.

One by one, homes in California subdivision sinking
5/11/13

LAKEPORT, Calif. –  Scott and Robin Spivey had a sinking feeling that something was wrong with their home when cracks began snaking across their walls in March.

The cracks soon turned into gaping fractures, and within two weeks their 600-square-foot garage broke from the house and the entire property -- manicured lawn and all -- dropped 10 feet below the street.

It wasn't long before the houses on both sides collapsed as the ground gave way in the Spivey's neighborhood in Lake County, about 100 miles north of San Francisco.

"We want to know what is going on here," said Scott Spivey, a former city building inspector who had lived in his four-bedroom, Tudor-style dream home for 11 years.

Eight homes are now abandoned and 10 more are under notice of imminent evacuation as a hilltop with sweeping vistas of Clear Lake and the Mount Konocti volcano swallows the subdivision built 30 years ago.

The situation has gotten so bad that mail delivery was ended to keep carriers out of danger.

"It's a slow-motion disaster," said Randall Fitzgerald, a writer who bought his home in the Lakeside Heights project a year ago.

Unlike sinkholes of Florida that can gobble homes in an instant, this collapse in hilly volcanic country can move many feet on one day and just a fraction of an inch the next.

Officials believe water that has bubbled to the surface is playing a role in the destruction. But nobody can explain why suddenly there is plentiful water atop the hill in a county with groundwater shortages.

"That's the big question," said Scott De Leon, county public works director. "We have a dormant volcano, and I'm certain a lot of things that happen here (in Lake County) are a result of that, but we don't know about this."

Other development on similar soil in the county is stable, county officials said.

While some of the subdivision movement is occurring on shallow fill, De Leon said a geologist has warned that the ground could be compromised down to bedrock 25 feet below and that cracks recently appeared in roads well beyond the fill.

"Considering this is a low rainfall year and the fact it's letting go now after all of these years, and the magnitude that it's letting go, well it's pretty monumental," De Leon said.

County officials have inspected the original plans for the project and say it was developed by a reputable engineering firm then signed off on by the public works director at the time.

"I can only presume that they were checked prior to approval," De Leon said.

The sinkage has prompted county crews to redirect the subdivision's sewage 300 feet through an overland pipe as manholes in the 10-acre development collapsed.

Consultant Tom Ruppenthal found two small leaks in the county water system that he said weren't big enough to account for the amount of water that is flowing along infrastructure pipes and underground fissures, but they could be contributing to another source.

"It's very common for groundwater to shift its course," said Ruppenthal of Utility Services Associates in Seattle. "I think the groundwater has shifted."

If the county can't get the water and sewer service stabilized, De Leon said all 30 houses in the subdivision will have to be abandoned.

The owners of six damaged homes said they need help from the government.

The Lake County Board of Supervisors asked Gov. Jerry Brown to declare an emergency so funding might be available to stabilize utilities and determine the cause of the collapse. On May 6, state Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, wrote a letter of support asking Brown for immediate action.  The California Emergency Management Agency said Brown was still assessing the situation.

On Wednesday, the state sent a water resources engineer and a geologist to look at the problem. Sen. Dianne Feinstein sent a representative the next day.

Lake County, with farms, wineries and several Indian casinos, was shaped by earthquake fault movement and volcanic explosions that helped create the Coast Ranges of California. Clear Lake, popular for boating and fishing, is the largest fresh water lake wholly located in the state.

It is not unusual for groundwater in the region to make its way to the surface then subside. Many natural hot springs and geysers receded underground in the early 1900s and have since been tapped for geothermal power.

Homeowners now wonder whether fissures have opened below their hilltop, allowing water to seep to the surface. But they're so perplexed they also talk about the land being haunted and are considering asking the local Native American tribe if the hilltop was an ancient graveyard.

"Someone said it must be hexed," said Blanka Doren, a 72-year-old German immigrant who poured her life savings into the house she bought in 1999 so she could live on the rental income.

The home shares a wall with her neighbor, Jagtar Singh -- who had two days of notice to move his wife, 4-year-old daughter and his parents before the hill behind the back of his home collapsed -- taking the underside of his house and leaving the carpet dangling.

Doren is afraid that as Singh's house falls it will take hers with it. Already cracks have spread across her floors.

Damaged houses in the subdivision have been tagged for mandatory removal, but the hillside is so unstable it can't support the heavy equipment necessary to perform the job.

"This was our first home," said Singh, who noticed a problem in April when he could see light between the wall and floor of his bedroom. A geotechnical company offered no solutions.

"We didn't know it would be that major, but in one week we were gone," he said.

So far insurance companies have left the owners of the homes -- valued between $200,000 and $250,000, or twice the median price in the county -- dangling too. Subsidence is not covered, homeowners said. So until someone figures out whether something else is going on, they'll be in limbo.

"It's a tragedy, really," contractor Dean Pick said as he took photos for an insurance company. "I've never seen anything like it. At least that didn't have the Pacific Ocean eating away at it."


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/11/one-by-one-homes-in-california-subdivision-sinking/#ixzz2T96eRGja

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/05/13/exploding-manholes-set-cars-on-fire-cut-power-in-brooklyn/
5/13/13
Exploding Manholes Set Cars On Fire, Cut Power In Brooklyn

No Injuries Reported After 3 Manholes Ignite On Menahan Street In Bushwick

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Several manholes exploded in Brooklyn on Monday, setting cars on fire and sending people running for their safety.

As CBS 2’s Alice Gainer reported, dozens of families were left without power following the explosions in Bushwick on Monday afternoon. As late as 9 p.m., power was still out for several customers, and smoke was still billowing on and off from one of the manholes that exploded.

Not one, and not two, but three manhole covers blew along Menahan Street near Wyckoff Avenue, witnesses said.

“I seen that there was smoke coming from out of there. So when I looked and saw that, that’s when I started telling people to get out; something’s going to blow,” Arlene Baker said.

And when the manholes did blow, at least two had cars sitting on top of them. Hernan Gonzalez came home to find his car burned to a crisp on the bottom with the bumper off, with the manhole still smoking underneath.

“I haven’t had a chance to look at nothing right now. I don’t want to look at nothing for now, because it’s hot, so I got to wait for that,” Gonzalez said.

Overhead wires also caught fire. Con Edison said a cable underground gave out, causing a chain reaction.

“It blew up and hit the car under. At least he took his car out. That was the first one that blew up, and then the one over there, and then that one over here,” said witness Henry Alicen, pointing out the manholes.

Despite all the damage, no one was seriously injured – for which Gonzalez said he was grateful.

“It’s a car,” he said. “Your life is very important. A car is a car.”

Con Edison reported 153 customers were without power Monday night, according to 1010 WINS. Power should be restored to all customers by 11 a.m. Tuesday, Con Ed said.

By 11 p.m., power had been restored to about half of the affected customers, Gainer reported.

The blast was blamed on some sort of failure of underground equipment, but the specific equipment at issue has not been determined, 1010 WINS reported.

These same people would look at a burning fuse on a stick of dynamite, and wonder why something is burning!

Now I'm obviously no geologist, by any stretch, however, they have a state that is earthquake prone, they are draining all the ground water for all those people to waste on watering their lawns and golf courses, and they wonder why the ground is settling. Volcano or not, the ground there is always moving, and sometimes it makes big moves that are earthquakes. There is no question gravity works! You go shaking a little and all that soil and rock WILL settle and move, and as they move and compress together, it of course will force out any water, or lava that may be in the area. It's basic physics.

In other words, it's God telling those people to move!

Weird, Smelly Foam Oozes Through Cracks in Chinese Streets
5/13/13

(http://whofortedblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/bizarrefoam.jpg)

Something very strange started oozing out of the streets in the Chinese city of Nanjing on Saturday night. Generally, when weird things start erupting from the ground in Asian countries it’s in the form of a giant b-movie monster, but this invasion was a whole lot realer, and a whole lot smellier.

At around 9PM, pedestrians began to notice the pavement at the Wende Baiyun Lane cross intersection started to crack and split open, and before long, a foamy white substance was spewing from the cracks, brining with it a foul-smelling stench. Within a short time, the foam had spread to a 50 meter radius and stood a foot high.

According to the Chinese news outlet Longhoo, firefighters and police rushed to rope off the scene, evacuating civilians and helping redirect the flow of traffic from the flow of ooze.

A short time later, the strange substance stopped leaking and the remnants that weren’t quickly washed into the sewers retreated back into the one centimeter wide cracks in the road, leaving authorities baffled as to what the stinking foam could have been.

An investigation has been started into the case of the smelly ooze, but so far, the only rational explanation that officials can come to is that the ‘Godzilla barf’ might be related to nearby subway construction, though even that theory hasn’t answered many questions.

http://whofortedblog.com/2013/05/13/godzilla-barf-weird-smelly-foam-oozes-cracks-chinese-streets/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCtcgI4BcIQ

"Godzilla barf"!  :D

So does that mean Japan just made a first strike? Seeing Godzilla is Japanese after all.

Massive sinkhole kills five in south China town of Shenzhen
5/21/13

(http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2013/05/21/1226647/968250-five-killed-by-south-china-sinkhole.jpg)


FIVE people have died after a 10-metre wide sinkhole opened up at the gates of an industrial estate in Shenzhen, the southern Chinese boom town neighbouring Hong Kong. 
   
The Shenzhen Longgang district government said on its verified page on Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter, that five people had died and added that it was investigating the incident.

The sinkhole formed just outside the Huamao Industrial Park in Shenzhen on Monday evening, at a time when many factory workers would have been changing shifts, according to the website of Beijing-based newspaper the Guangming Daily.

The state-run Shanghai Daily newspaper said that rescuers saved one man.

Reports said it was unclear how many people had fallen into the hole in total, but the search was continuing on Tuesday.

Sinkholes in China are often blamed on construction works and the country's rapid pace of development.

Surveillance cameras in March captured images of a security guard being swallowed by a sinkhole, also in Shenzhen.

Two months ago a man was killed when his bedroom was swallowed by a eight metre sinkhole in Florida, in the US.


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world-news/massive-sinkhole-kills-five-in-south-china-town-of-shenzhen/story-fndir2ev-1226647965016#ixzz2TyjJwmRp

(http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/ht_Bridge_ac_130523_wg.jpg)

I-5 Bridge Collapse Over Skagit River in Washington Sends Cars, People Into Water
May 23, 2013 A portion of the Interstate 5 freeway over the Skagit River in Skagit County, Wash., collapsed,
sending cars and people into the water, authorities said.
The collapse occurred on the Interstate 5 freeway over the Skagit River in Mount Vernon, Wash., about two hours north of Seattle.
It was unclear whether or not there were any injuries.
"N/B and S/B lanes of I-5 Skagit River Bridge collapsed," Washington State Trooper Mark Francis posted on Twitter. "People and cars in water."
http://abcnews.go.com/US/bridge-collapse-skagit-river-washington-sends-cars-people/story?id=19246280#.UZ7g0M4pV6c

Millions of Americans will cross 'structurally deficient' bridges this weekend
5/24/13
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/24/18469258-millions-of-americans-will-cross-structurally-deficient-bridges-this-weekend?lite

The Washington state bridge collapse that spilled two cars into the Skagit River could give Americans pause as they hit the roads for Memorial Day holiday travel.

With good reason.

This weekend, millions will cross 66,000 bridges that the federal government has deemed "structurally deficient," meaning key elements are in poor condition.

The Federal Highway Administration hastens to note that label doesn't mean they are unsafe or in danger of collapse, but transportation advocates say it highlights a growing crisis of aging infrastructure, deferred maintenance and rebuilding, and design flaws.

"We don't expect an epidemic of collapses — that's the extreme," said Dan Goldberg, communications director for Transportation for America, a coalition that identified the busiest deficient bridges in the nation in a 2011 report.

"We are going to see probably some more of this, but the more likely scenario is contending with the issues of decay that happen before the collapse."

Big potholes, weight restrictions and lane closings are some of the inconveniences bridge users face unless reconstruction and replacement is ramped up across the nation, Goldberg said.

The Interstate 5 bridge in Mount Vernon, Wash., which apparently crumpled after being hit by an oversized truck, was not on the Federal Highway Administration's structurally-deficient list.

Famed spans aren't the problem. San Francisco's Golden Gate, for instance, is in pretty good shape. The Brooklyn Bridge is undergoing a massive rehabilitation project to correct its deficiencies.

But hundreds of less glamorous bridges — many of them generic overpasses that take commuters over cross streets or other highways — remain vulnerable.

Here are six crossings, together used by more than 1 million vehicles each day, that don't make the grade:

I-76 over Klemm Ave. in Gloucester, N.J.: The deck and superstructure are in poor condition on this 11-lane interstate overpass that dates to 1956. More than 191,000 vehicles use it every day, and $30 million has been earmarked for deck replacement.

IS-695 over Milford Mill Road in Baltimore, Md.: Built in 1961 and reconstructed in 1979, this eight-lane overpass on the Baltimore Beltway has a deck and substructure in poor condition. But good news for nearly 190,000 vehicles that cross each day: It will be replaced in a two-year project starting this summer.

Halona St. Bridge in Honolulu, Hawaii: Built in 1938, this slab bridge over the Kapalama Canal is not slated for replacement until 2019. Some 184,000 vehicles travel the two-lane crossing, which has a deck and substructure in poor condition.

I-70 over Havana St. in Denver, Colo.: This 10-lane structure, which has a deck and substructure in poor condition, is slated for a rebuild in the next few years. Built in 1964 and reconstructed in 1978, it services 183,000 vehicles a day.

I-278 approach to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in Staten Island, N.Y.: On an average day, 182,700 vehicles take this overpass to a majestic double-decker bridge. The substructure of the two-lane approach, built in 1961, is in poor condition.

I-95 over Hendricks Ave. in Jacksonville, Fla.: The deck is in poor condition on this nine-lane section of interstate that handles 121,000 vehicles a day. Built in 1959 and reconstructed in 1989, it is undergoing a replacement.

From what I've read, these accidents didn't happen by accident, per se - pretty much this country is bankrupt and in debt, and don't have the necessary funds to maintain the infrastructure of these things. It seems like they're slowly on the increase in recent years.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/25/18490608-seven-injured-in-missouri-as-trains-collide-trigger-highway-bridge-collapse?lite
5/25/13
Seven injured in Missouri as trains collide, trigger highway bridge collapse

Two freight trains collided and derailed early Saturday in southeast Missouri, then triggered the collapse of a highway overpass when several rail cars struck a support pillar.

Seven people were injured, including two personnel on the trains and five individuals in cars on the overpass on Highway M near Scott City, about 120 miles south of St. Louis, NBC affiliate KSDK reported. All the injured were hospitalized and listed in fair condition.

The collision occurred before dawn at a rail intersection.

"One train T-boned the other one and caused it to derail, and the derailed train hit a pillar which caused the overpass to collapse," Scott County Sheriff's dispatcher Clay Slipis told Reuters.

The crash, which involved BNSF Railway Co and Union Pacific trains, also ignited a fire when diesel fuel leaked from one of the train engines, Slipis said.

The crash came just over a week after a commuter train derailed in Connecticut, striking another train and injuring more than 70 people during the evening rush hour.

On Friday, a truck crash caused the collapse of a bridge in Washington state, sending two cars plunging into the Skagit River. Three people were rescued.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it had dispatched a team to investigate the train crash.

Union Pacific said its train had been primarily carrying auto parts from Illinois to Texas. The Union Pacific locomotive and about a dozen cars derailed in the crash.

BNSF said that its train had been hauling scrap metal from salvage facilities and was heading south along the Missouri River.

well, they usually go in threes

Now Mark, that's a bit "superstitious" don't you think? Not a very edifying thing to say as a Christian.

who ever heard of bridges collapsing in threes?  its so rare that they are big news when it happens. my comment was a take on how celebrities die in 3's, which they usually do close together. its just one of those weird things, not a "superstitious" as it doesn’t happen every time, but enough to warrant a general acknowledgment in modern society. Does a full moon produce more crazies? Not in general per say, but ask a cop if he believes it? ...

Replacing damaged Mo. bridge estimated at $3M
5/26/13
CHAFFEE, Mo. (AP) — Cleanup of the collapsed southeast Missouri highway overpass continued Sunday, more than 24 hours after a cargo train crash led to a chain reaction.

The crash, which happened about 2:30 a.m. Saturday near Chaffee, led to the derailment of about two dozen rail cars that smashed into the bridge's support pillars. Seven people in two cars on the Highway M overpass in Scott County were injured, none seriously, when two 40-foot sections of the overpass crumpled. All seven had been released from an area hospital Saturday.

"The damage is very extensive," Mark Shelton, engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation's southeast region, said Sunday. "We're going to end up removing the entire bridge and completely replacing it."

Shelton said the overpass replacement is estimated to cost about $3 million, and the bridge is expected to reopen in early September.

The overpass, which was built about 15 years ago, is used by about 400 to 500 cars a day, mostly between Chaffee, Scott City and Cape Girardeau. The National Transportation Safety Board said the bridge was given rated "good" after its last inspection in February.

more
http://news.yahoo.com/replacing-damaged-mo-bridge-estimated-3m-164319043.html

Sinkhole to close D.C. streets through Friday
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/sinkhole-to-close-dc-streets-through-friday/2013/05/28/0c0b4224-c7c2-11e2-9245-773c0123c027_story.html
5/28/13

The sinkhole in downtown Washington will continue to block lanes and impede traffic until the end of the work week, officials said Tuesday.

Authorities shut down parts of 14th and F streets in Northwest Washington last week after a pit opened at the intersection, which is blocks from the White House and in an area full of restaurants and hotels.

The work is taking so long because workers digging down to the sewer line have to navigate a complex thicket of utility lines and old trolley tracks, according to George S. Hawkins, general manager of the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority.

“It’s been the most complicated street repair I’ve seen since I’ve been on the job,” Hawkins said at a news conferencein front of the sinkhole.

Work at the pit could cost nearly $2 million, Hawkins said.

All of the work should be completed and the roads reopened by Friday, said Paul A. Quander Jr., the deputy mayor for public safety.

“A lot of progress has been made,” Quander said. ”We’ve been working around the clock to fix this.”

Northbound 14th Street remains blocked between Pennsylvania and New York avenues, while F Street is closed between 13th and 15th streets. Only southbound traffic can pass through the intersection.

If the roads do reopen Friday, the intersection will have been at least partially blocked for 10 days spanning two work weeks and a holiday weekend. Traffic was severely affected in the blocks around the closure, with cars and buses being diverted from a key artery in and out of the city.

While the cause of the sinkhole is still being investigated, Hawkins said it appears that the hole developed because a nearby manhole was blocking a storm drain.

The storm drain at the northwest corner of the intersection, in front of the Hamilton restaurant, is meant to funnel storm water into the sewer system. But a manhole was constructed that blocked the drain. As a result, water had nowhere to go and seeped into the dirt under the street.

“That’s our best hypothesis,” Hawkins said.

The blockage in the storm drain was discovered Friday when workers threaded a camera into the drain. Authorities don’t know when the manhole was installed, but the dirt appears to have been washed out over a period of several years, Hawkins said.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/easton/index.ssf/2013/05/another_sinkhole_opens_up_on_n.html
Sinkhole traps truck on Northwood Avenue in Palmer Township(PA)
5/23/13

Another sinkhole opened up this morning on Northwood Avenue in Palmer Township, this one swallowing the front wheels of a Lowe's delivery truck.

The latest sinkhole is in the eastbound lane just outside a home at 2350 Northwood Ave. and is not far from previous sinkholes that opened recently.

Roy White, executive director of the Easton Suburban Water Authority, said crews have started working in the area of the 6-inch main break.

Just before 9 this morning, a school bus had traveled through the area when the driver noticed the sinkhole starting to form and called authorities, Palmer Township police said.

Before crews could arrive, the sinkhole opened up more and the Lowe's Home Improvement store delivery truck, which had stopped to deliver a riding lawn mower to a home along the road, became trapped.

Once the truck was freed from the hole, employees from the Bethlehem Township, Pa., Lowe's store unloaded the mower and pushed it past the sinkhole and up the driveway.

Palmer Township police are closing Northwood Avenue indefinitely from Tatamy Road to East Lane.

Sinkholes are common in the Lehigh Valley, where underground water runs through soft limestone that's prone to give way. But Palmer and Bethlehem township sinkholes are larger than most.

Crews in April had to repair two sizable sinkholes on Northwood Avenue, which collapsed from a leaky water main. A 16-inch main at that site led to the formation of another hole a few feet away.

On March 10, a sinkhole opened behind 1502 Second St. in Bethlehem Township. That sinkhole, which forced a family to leave its home, was blamed on an aging, leaky sewer main. A sinkhole formed in late April in Allentown.

Large sinkhole opens in Winter Park

Nearby houses on standby for evacuation

Firefighters said a massive sinkhole -- at least 40 feet by 50 feet wide and 30 feet deep -- opened in the back yard of a Winter Park home.

The sinkhole is located behind a home in the 2300 block of Roxbury Road, not far from Interstate 4 and Fairbanks Avenue.

The homeowner, Suzie Blumenauar, told Local 6 she was celebrating her birthday Monday night and when she got home she noticed the sinkhole.

“What is going on here? This is devastation. The whole back yard is a mess,” Blumenauar said.

Fire crews said the sinkhole has swallowed up half of Blumenauar's pool and extends into her neighbors' yards.

On Tuesday, the Orange County Division of Building Safety declared two homes, including Blumenauar's, unsafe and the occupants have been ordered to leave.

Fire crews have not determined a cause for the sinkhole, but the city has been drilling a well nearby, something James Russo has concerns about. He lives across the street and worries the sinkhole could spread.

“The thought of that happening, if something opens up, it makes me nervous,” said Russo.

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Fire crews roped off the area in the back yard and officials will continue to monitor the hole.

In February, a sinkhole opened beneath a home in Seffner, near Tampa, swallowing and killing a man.

video: http://www.clickorlando.com/news/sinkhole-on-roxbury-road-30-feet-deep/-/1637132/20409790/-/v9kvip/-/index.html

30-Foot Sinkhole Revealed Along I-69 Route
6/4/13
http://indianapublicmedia.org/news/30foot-sinkhole-revealed-i69-route-50212/

(http://indianapublicmedia.org/news/files/2013/06/sinkhole2-940x626.jpg)

As I-69 construction continues in Monroe County, crews are encountering a number of sinkholes.

The state department of transportation says it is not unexpected given all the karst features in the area. But residents are worried about the impact of the construction on the environment.

Bulldozers and land movers are working to clear a path through southern Monroe County that will eventually become part of I-69.

This phase of the construction is the most challenging because of the karst topography. The construction is exposing large caverns, some 30 feet deep and 15 feet across.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwdN7jtwOnQ

I-69 opponent Thomas Tokarski says building the interstate over these sinkholes poses a threat to the groundwater because pollutants and runoff can seep through openings and into the water table.

“There is a real risk to the environment in that regard too,” he says. “Plus we’re not sure about the impacts of all this digging on personal wells. We’re on a water well and what is this going to do to our well? We have excellent water now. Is that going to contaminate our well? We just have to wait and see.”

INDOT spokesperson Will Wingfield says while these karst features are common throughout the area, the department’s planners have taken necessary precautions to prevent impacts to the water table and environment in general.

“Known karst features are identified on the site,” he says. “There’s measures being taken to filter and minimize runoff going into those features. Then as part of the construction process they’ll be managed and may be capped in order to minimize impact. It’s something that we knew about as we were developing the project and have added that into our schedule to make sure that we’re delivering the project on a timely manner.”

The section of I-69 from Crane to State Road 37 just south of Bloomington is expected to be complete by the end of 2014.

A 67-mile stretch of the road from Evansville to Crane opened in November.

http://www.semissourian.com/story/1976637.html
6/10/13
Sinkhole area called 'very dangerous' to public(Missouri)

Editor's note: The following story has been edited to correct that Ken Eftink's comments were from 2011, when he was assistant city manager.

Cape Girardeau's public works director Tim Gramling said two sinkholes on South Sprigg Street, near LaCroix Creek, continue to grow. A sinkhole in the creek is causing water to flood into the nearby Buzzi Unicem quarry.

Gramling said as the waters of the Mississippi River rose to above flood stage for the second time this spring, the problem worsened. He said one of the sinkholes on South Sprigg Street is about 50 feet in diameter and about 15 feet deep. A second sinkhole near the end of the bridge over the creek is 20 to 25 feet in diameter and is roughly 6 to 8 feet deep.

"And it's growing as we're talking," he said.

Gramling attempted to explain why the problem, which has closed a portion of South Sprigg Street indefinitely, developed.

"You've just got to picture what's going on underground," he said. "It's like a 3-D Swiss cheese. Flood water gets into the cracks and crevasses and starts to fill up the quarry."

The water erodes the soil, causing more sinkholes.

Gramling said employees from Buzzi Unicem are working to address the creek sinkhole. He said the company is damming the creek by the bridge, attempting to isolate the water and keep down the flow into the quarry.

"They're not shut down, but they're trying their best to keep the water down," he said.

City employees are monitoring the creek bridge.

"It hasn't been affected," Gramling said. "We keep an eye on it."

The city and Buzzi Unicem have attempted in the past to fill the sinkholes with rock and concrete, to no avail.

"You can put stuff in them and it just disappears and we've done that for several years," Gramling said. "If we filled the holes up, by tomorrow [the fill] would be gone."

The sinkholes have been a problem in the area since 2007. In 2011, assistant city manager Ken Eftink said the number of sinkholes has grown from 15 to 33 in two months. The state Department of Natural Resources plans to take a look and city officials have met with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt and former U.S. representative Jo Ann Emerson.

While the crest of the Mississippi River at just short of 45 feet on Friday at Cape Girardeau is good news in many ways, Gramling said it isn't much help as far as the sinkholes are concerned.

"When the water goes down, it actually aggravates them," he said. "It could aggravate them and make them worse."

Gramling said Ameren is keeping a close watch on a major natural gas line that runs through the problem area.

Asked if there's much that can be done, Gramling was not optimistic.

"Not really; just keep an eye on it," he said. "Right now the main thing is safety for the public. It's very dangerous; it's very unpredictable; it's random. It's just not a place for people to be walking around, unless they're emergency workers."

As for the future, the permanent closure of Sprigg Street in the area of the creek is a possibility. The city had to change plans to expand its wastewater treatment plant -- the first few sinkholes were noticed south of the plant -- and instead build a new one in another location.

Gramling said not to expect the closed portion of Sprigg Street to reopen any time soon.

"It will probably be closed now for a while," he said.

Sinkhole At Rangers Ballpark Forces Team To Cancel Batting Practice
6/12/13

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BMg2fLdCYAACFJJ.jpg)

A sinkhole at the Rangers ballpark in Texas made it a little difficult for players to concentrate on batting practice.

According to ABC, a small sinkhole opened up behind the mound at the Texas ballpark early on Tuesday morning. The Cleveland Indians and the Texas Rangers were both scheduled to take batting practice on the field but practice had to be canceled to give maintenance crews a chance to fix the problem.

NBC reports that a busted pipe under the field created the mini sinkhole. Crew workers had to dig down three feet to get to the pipe and fix the problem.

The Indians were on an 8 game losing streak heading into their game tonight and manager Terry Francona joked about creating the sinkhole at the ballpark on purpose. Francona referenced a scene in the movie Bull Durham where Kevin Costner purposefully floods a field in order to get a break from losing.

Francona said: “I didn’t do it … We’re not there yet. We’re frustrated, but we’re not there.”

The Indians and the Rangers would eventually take the field for their game at Rangers stadium and the Indians, for the first time in a long time, would come out on top. The Indians beat the Rangers 5-2.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/698370/sinkhole-at-rangers-ballpark-forces-team-to-cancel-batting-practice/#IZBz5cJKE2eWg6QP.99

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgKvjp9udR8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz-cDiRoL3E

Pictures: http://fox4kc.com/2013/06/15/sinkhole-swallows-front-end-of-semi/
6/15/13
Sinkhole swallows front end of semi

MISSION, Kan. — An apparent sinkhole swallowed up the front end of a semi tractor-trailer in Mission, Kan. Saturday afternoon.

The pictures below were sent to FOX 4 by Jamie McCray. Others also watched as authorities tried to retrieve the truck from the lot.

FOX 4 is working to gather more information on this developing story after the heavy rains.

"Radioactive-Looking" Sinkholes

A hole opens up in the street and a fluorescent green fluid appears inside.

(http://media.nbcphiladelphia.com/images/654*368/Northern+Liberties+Flourescent+Sinkhole.jpg)

What is that stuff?

It sounds like a scene from an episode of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a Nickelodeon slime show or a toxic waste dump.

But this isn’t science fiction, this sinkhole filled with fluorescent green goo is reality and it’s located on a Philadelphia street. Steven Reitz can prove it. The Northern Liberties resident shot a photo of the "radioactive-looking" sinkhole along Randolph Street near Girard Avenue last week.

Reitz’s photo was then shared around the world after he posted it to the social discussion site, Reddit. Since then, hundreds of Reddit users weighed in on what exactly was the green liquid in the sinkhole. More than a few mentioned the Ninja Turtles as a possibility.

There would be no “Splinter” in this story however even if there was still a mystery.

It seems the mystery of what caused the bright green water and who was responsible might be answered by Philadelphia Gas Works -- since their name "PGW" is stamped on the traffic barricade -- or the Streets Department -- since this is a hole in the street – but a few phone calls revealed that the radioactive-looking water came from the Philadelphia Water Department.

Philadelphia Water Department spokeswoman Laura Copeland tells NBC10.com that the green-looking fluid is actually a “harmless, food dye” used as a tracer. It helps workers identify the cause of sinkholes, cave-ins and other holes in the ground.

“Since most of our infrastructure is outside, we mainly use the green dye as it is the most visible and can be seen at the greatest distance in our infrastructure,” Copeland said. “

Green is not the only hue on the palette of problem-solving colors. They also use blue and red dyes to differentiate other sources of a break, especially when working inside a home, Copeland said.

The colored water doesn't pose a threat to the general public, according to officials.

And that gaping hole in the street?

Soon after posting the photo, Reitz reported back that the hole was already boarded up.

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/weird/Green-Flourescent-Water-Hole-Philly-211843641.html?dr

Mystery Substance Prompts Closure Of Indiana Beach

Swimmers have been ordered out of Lake Michigan at Porter Beach because of a substance in the water. WBBM’s Nancy Harty has more.

It was originally thought to be an oil slick that prompted the closure of Porter Beach and the Indiana Dunes State Park Beach right next door, but park ranger Bruce Rowe says samples taken of the quarter-mile long slick show it is not.

“The initial results, very initial, are that it is not oil based, but that we don’t have the specific results as to what it is,” Rowe says.
 
Rowe says that around noon, beach visitors noticed their children coming out of the lake with a silvery, almost metallic material sticking to them, which prompted the beach closure.
 
Lifeguards walked the shoreline, announcing the water was off-limits.
 
“They said it with urgency. They told everybody to evacuate the water immediately,” beachgoer Jason Pavela said.
 
Several agencies are investigating, including the U.S. Geological Survey. Rowe says it will likely be the morning before they have any idea of what the substance is, so no one is allowed into the water until then.
 
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/06/17/mystery-substance-prompts-closure-of-indiana-beach/

People lounging around, recreating eh? MAYBE they shouldn't be out swimming and partying like it's 1999!  ::)

Scary - sounds like mercury  :o

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/24/world/asia/china-sinkhole-problem/index.html?hpt=hp_c3
7/24/13
Living a nightmare in China's city of sinkholes

Jining, China (CNN) -- Four months after he built a new, two-story brick house in his village in northern China's Shandong Province, Xiao Guoqiang was alarmed to find a huge crack on the living room wall.

Having seen homes in neighboring villages sink, Xiao realized his long-held fears were coming true.

"I knew the day was coming, but I didn't expect it to happen so soon," said Xiao, who has been forced to move from the land -- on which four generations of his family have lived -- as a consequence.

Xiao's hometown, Jining, is one of China's "coal cities," whose mineral wealth helps light up the night skies of the world's most energy-hungry country. The land here is honeycombed with coal mines, which can form massive sinkholes that leave thousands of homes uninhabitable every year.

Ten years ago, the area where Xiao lived was a vibrant farming community on the North China Plain. But sinkholes are devouring 20 million square meters (7.7 square miles) of land here a year, according to the Jining Land Resource Bureau, and have displaced an estimated 100,000 people, mostly farmers and their families, over the past decade.

Sinkholes around the world

By 2090, the bureau predicts one third of the city -- an area as large as Los Angeles -- will fall into the earth, and an estimated 5 million people will have been forced out of the region by the problem.

Those figures worry government-affiliated sinkhole researcher Gu Mei, who said tensions over migration may lead to social unrest.

"Schools in some districts are overwhelmed with migrant students, while in other districts, classrooms are half empty," she told CNN.

Sinkholes: Common, costly and sometimes deadly

In this low-lying area, most sinkholes quickly fill with water. "I am afraid the city is turning into the Venice of the East," former mayor Li Guangsheng told the Qilu Weekly, a local newspaper, earlier this year.

When coal was discovered in the region in the 1960s, it proved a boon for the local economy. State-run miner YanKaung Group Ltd. grew from a local coal company to a multination-listed energy giant, employing about one of every two workers in town.

Meng Lingjun, a coal company employee, remembers the city as an underdeveloped backwater thirty years ago.

It costs at least US$15 per square meter to drain a hole and put in new soil. But according to Xiao Guoqiang, villagers only get compensated to the tune of US$5 per square meter from the coal company.

The Yankuang Group declined CNN requests for comment, citing the sensitivity of mining-induced farmland losses and migration issues.

For Xiao, the move to his new home has hit the family's dinner table as they can no longer raise their own pigs or grow their own vegetables.

"The pork price is rising and we cannot afford it. Having fresh vegetables and meat had never been a problem before because we grew and bred what we wanted to eat," Xiao said.

Another villager points out the lack of jobs in the new location.

"Our new home is 20 miles (32.1 kilometers) from the nearest town. It is hard for us find a decent job," said Kong Jian, who operates a street noodle stand.

"Young people flock to bigger cities, looking for factory jobs. Those who stayed are doing small businesses like operating noodle restaurants," Xiao said. "But for the next generation, nobody will know how to farm."

The 50-year old gets emotional when talking about his old village.

"As I get older, my nostalgic feeling for the old village grows stronger. I try not to think about it -- about the fact that it is a lake and the village only lives in my memory."

Maybe we are now seeing the real reason for all those cities China has built and are standing empty. They aren't failed projects, but on standby for future need it seems.

http://www.startribune.com/local/west/216619681.html
7/23/13
The story behind Robbinsdale's great big sinkhole

A break in neighboring cities’ water main created a 20-foot hole and closed the city’s busiest intersection for three weeks.

On the morning of June 22, the bottom of a 36-inch water main in the heart of Robbinsdale burst, peeling back several feet of concrete-coated steel pipe like a can of sardines.

Over the next 40 minutes, an estimated 600,000 gallons of water blasted downward, creating a hole 20 feet deep at the city’s busiest intersection.

“This is your worst nightmare,” said Crystal City Engineer Tom Mathisen, who supervised the repairs. “It’s always kind of hair-pulling, but yet, because we do this kind of stuff all of the time, there’s a process to do it.”

The complete repair and reconstruction of the giant Robbinsdale Sinkhole was finished in three weeks, an impressive feat considering the magnitude and complexity of the damage. Water gushing from the broken water main bored down 10 feet and destroyed a sanitary sewer line, which filled with sand and dirt. Then water, dirt and debris churned upward, taking out a storm sewer pipe that sat less than a foot above the water main.

The water continued to drive toward the surface, and eventually popped off several manhole covers, flooding the intersection of 42nd Avenue (County Rd. 9) and Bottineau Boulevard (Hwy. 81) around 10 a.m. In a stroke of luck, a nearby gas line was unscathed and no one was injured.

“I certainly have to commend the [various public works departments] for how quickly they turned the water off ... and then repaired it,” said Robbinsdale Mayor Regan Murphy. “It was an amazing response — I mean, it was a 20-foot hole, and they had [Hwy. 81] open in two weeks,”

The repairs were especially tricky because the water main takes two slight turns near the break, one at a 45-degree angle and one at a 12-degree angle. The bends had to be replaced with custom piping, which was trucked in overnight from Dayton, Ohio.

“Thirty-six-inch ductile iron pipe is not something you just keep on your shelf,” said Mathisen.

There was speculation that the blowout was related to the severe weather that ripped through the Twin Cities June 21-22, but city officials say that the break was probably a result of a leak that slowly built for years. Mathison pointed out clusters of pinholes around the spot where the 50-year-old pipe burst as evidence of it weakening over time.

A community curiosity

Packs of onlookers gathered to marvel at the massive hole as workers began the repair process.

Mathisen insists that the Robbinsdale Sinkhole was not actually a sinkhole at all but rather a “blowhole” that resulted when the water pressure from the break blew the road apart. A sinkhole occurs when water weakens the ground below the surface, causing a collapse.

People cracked jokes and shared funny Photoshopped pictures on Facebook, and crowds spent their lunches sitting in the grass on the side of the formerly busy road watching the repairs.

“It became like a peanut gallery. People were gathered at the parking lot at McDonald’s and over at Pilgrim Cleaners, cheering,” said Mathisen.

“On Facebook, someone posted a picture of a Tyrannosaurus rex coming out” of the hole, added Murphy. “There was talk of making T-shirts, and a lot of people drove down to come look at it.”

A Twitter account, @Rdale Sinkhole, even sprang up to make light of the giant crater.

Mayor Murphy said that while all of the wisecracking was fun, most people he talked to were just relieved that no one was hurt. And some nearby residents had minor flooding due to the sanitary sewer getting clogged, which wasn’t funny at all for those homeowners.

Tangled teamwork

The burst water main is owned by the Joint Water Commission, a coalition of three cities — Crystal, Golden Valley and New Hope — that buy their water from Minneapolis. The Robbinsdale Police Department provided security for the site — it was, after all, the Robbinsdale Sinkhole.

Hennepin County got involved because the break occurred on County Road 9, and private contracting companies Northern Dewatering (water and sewage excavation), Valley-Rich (pipe repair) and C.S. McCrossan (repaving) worked on the repairs, in addition to a team of municipal workers headed by Mathisen.

In all, Mathisen estimates that there were 60 workers on-site initially, but that subsided to a daily number closer to 20 once repairs commenced. At this point, it’s still unclear who will be paying for what.

“How much reimbursement is due to us for our costs handling our emergency response and having to get the sand out of our sanitary main and storm sewer main has yet to be worked out,” said Marcia Glickman, Robbinsdale city manager. Glickman expects that the specific payments will be worked out through insurance companies. Total costs were estimated by Mathisen to be between $300,000 and $500,000.

Over the next two summers, a large section of County Road 9 east of Hwy. 81 is scheduled to be rebuilt, and the Water Commission already planned to replace the water pipes below that section of County Road 9 as part of the project.

Now, in addition to replacing the pipes, Mathisen hopes to purchase Smart Balls from Pure Technologies to help monitor leaks in the system.

Smart Balls are periodically inserted into pipes and record audio as they roll along. They can detect, record and pinpoint the location of minor leaks within 10 feet, according to the Pure Technologies’ website.

Mathisen hopes that aggressive maintenance measures like this will extend the life of the pipes and prevent another Robbinsdale Sinkhole from happening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or5kTH0jy6U

http://www.scmp.com/news/china-insider/article/1292740/massive-sinkhole-shaanxi-swallows-cement-truck
Giant sinkhole in Shaanxi swallows cement truck
7/29/13

A cement truck proved to be too much for a street section on Xian's outskirts on Saturday, causing a seven-metre-deep sinkhole and raising questions over construction safety in China.

In the early morning, a cement truck was swallowed by a sinkhole as it was on its way to its daytime deployment in northern China's Shaanxi province. No one was injured, and the driver was able to escape the vehicle. It took urban authorities until 10pm to remove the truck from the site.

Sinkholes are a common sight in the country, where fast-paced urbanisation and inadequate training have led to faulty infrastructure. In May, five people were killed when a 10-metre-wide sinkhole opened up at an industrial estate in Shenzhen. Two months earlier, another man had been killed by a sinkhole in the Guangdong border hub.

In January, a 300 sq m sinkhole swallowed five shops and cut power to 3,000 households in Guangzhou. The construction of a subway line has been blamed for the sink hole.

http://www.wibw.com/home/localnews/headlines/Large-Sinkhole-Discovered-In-Western-Kansas-218145361.html
Large Sinkhole Discovered In Western Kansas
8/2/13

(http://media.graytvinc.com/images/466*350/2+aug+wallace+co+sinkhole3.jpg)

WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE)-- Watch your step if you venture into Wallace County in western Kansas.

The Wallace County sheriff says a large sinkhole was discovered about a week ago eight miles north of Wallace.

They're waiting on experts to come out and examine the sinkhole.

They have no idea what caused it, and no injuries have been reported.

Sinkhole Takes On “Volcano-Like” Quality: Is This More Proof That The Louisiana Sinkhole Is Actually A Volcano?

Is the Louisiana sinkhole actually a ‘volcano’? According to this video report from  Pinksapphiret2 and story from The Advocate in Louisiana , the Bayou Corne sinkhole is now 20X bigger than it was this time last year, and “it has taken on a volcano-like quality”. We KNOW for a fact that an ancient volcano was in the area as shared in this story and the must watch 2nd video below. With the area receiving many recent tremors, has the ‘Louisiana Sinkhole Volcano’ come back to life again?
 
John Boudreaux smelled petroleum in the air when he arrived at work at 5:30 a.m. on Aug. 3 of last year.
 
More than two months into an emergency response for unexplained bayou bubbles and tremors, Boudreaux was working in Bayou Corne at a command post set up to investigate the mysterious goings-on that had baffled residents, Assumption Parish officials and state regulators.
 
In a wooded patch on Texas Brine’s leased site south off La. 70 was a 200-foot-by-200-foot sinkhole.
 
Initially called a “slurry hole,” the sinkhole had emerged sometime overnight after months of stirrings deep underground, pulling mature cypress trees straight down under a surface of floating mats of grass, mud and crude oil.
 
Since that day, one year ago Saturday, the 24-acre sinkhole has grown by a factor of more than 20 and taken on a volcano-like quality. The sinkhole has dormant periods and active periods, when tremors increase and methane and an emulsified oily gunk are released from deep natural deposits.

vids+pics+story: http://beforeitsnews.com/earthquakes/2013/08/sinkhole-takes-on-volcano-like-quality-is-this-more-proof-that-the-louisiana-sinkhole-is-actually-a-volcano-2467028.html

What caused a giant sinkhole in a Kansas pasture?

A mysterious, massive hole in the earth is attracting visitors to western Kansas.
 
Geologists and engineers are still trying to determine how and why the ground gave way in this particular spot south of Goodland in the middle of someone’s pasture.
 
“Man had nothing to do with this. This is a God thing,” said Larry Townsend, Wallace County Sheriff. “There’s no oil well around here. There are no irrigation wells anywhere near. This is something that just happened.”
 
The sink hole is about 200 feet across and 90 feet deep. Some people have let their curiosity overtake their caution and have hiked down into the cavity, but the sheriff warns that hiking into it is a bad idea because they don’t know what’s under it and if it will further collapse.


video: http://fox4kc.com/2013/08/05/what-caused-a-giant-sinkhole-in-a-kansas-pasture/

Prov_27:20  Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.

 :-\

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Car_nearly_falls_in_giant_sinkhole
8/4/13
Car nearly falls in giant sinkhole

A driver had a lucky escape in southern China when a giant sinkhole opened up just inches in front of his car.

The 20ft wide hole - more than 20ft deep - appeared in Nanning city just days after local TV and phone companies had laid new cables under the highway.

"One second the road was there, the next it was just a hole," said one witness.

"The driver managed to stop just in time just as one of his wheels was touching the edge," they added.

And a giant truck ahead of the motor was almost pulled into the hole when its rear wheels were caught in the other side.

A police spokesman said: "We are investigating the cause of the collapse."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/huge-sinkhole-swallows-backhoe-in-downtown-montreal-as-crews-plug-water-leak/article13598688/
Huge sinkhole swallows backhoe in downtown Montreal as crews plug
8/5/13

A section of a downtown commercial street swallowed a backhoe on Monday as city crews were getting ready to repair a leaky water main.

The backhoe had started to chip at asphalt near the corner of Ste-Catherine and Guy streets when the ground crumbled beneath it and the heavy machine tumbled in.

The driver of the backhoe was not injured but was taken to hospital to be checked out as a precaution, city officials said.

Emilie Miskdjian, a spokeswoman for the Ville-Marie borough, said the city was alerted to the possible water leak on the weekend.

She said preliminary indications were that the leak caused the problem but more inspections needed to be done to find the exact cause.

“We think that the water leak was because of the sewer pipe,” she told reporters. “It’s a broken sewer pipe. That’s what we think but we have to do inspections to see what is really the cause.”

Montreal police quickly blocked off streets around the sinkhole and rerouted traffic away from the stretch of street which is dotted with restaurants and stores.

Metal fences were erected around the hole, where the backhoe remained at an angle as crews figured out how to eventually remove it safely.

Firefighters and gas company workers also milled around the scene, which drew a horde of lunchtime gawkers who snapped pictures of it with their cellphones.

Rahman Esmaili, owner of the Sharx pool bar, was instead assessing damage to his basement-level bar where he says water had been leaking in for more than a week.

He says the city was warned about the problem but replied there were no reports of low water pressure.

“The city completely ignored (it),” he said. “This morning, they decided to come and look at it.”

Esmaili said workers hadn’t been there long before the street caved in. He wondered aloud what would have happened if heavy traffic had been passing over the spot at the moment it collapsed.

“It’s very disturbing,” he said.

Esmaili said he will have to close his business for several days to replace soaked carpeting.

Sinkhole causes resort villa to partially collapse

CLERMONT, Fla. (August 12, 2013)- A sinkhole caused a section of a central Florida resort villa to partially collapse early Monday, while another section of the villa was sinking, authorities said.

About 30 percent of the three-story structure collapsed around 3 a.m. Monday, Lake County Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Tony Cuellar said. The villa at the Summer Bay Resort had already been evacuated and no injuries were reported.

Cuellar said authorities were also concerned about another section of the villa, which was sinking.

The sinkhole, which is in the middle of the villa, is about 40 to 50 feet in diameter, Cuellar said. He said authorities think it was getting deeper but couldn't tell early Monday if it was growing outward.

The villa houses 24 units and about 20 people were staying in it at the time, Cuellar said.

Authorities were called to the scene, about 10 miles west of Disney World, late Sunday where they found that the building was making popping sounds and windows were breaking.

A nearby villa was also evacuated as a precaution, Cuellar said.Witnesses told The Associated Press they could hear a cracking sound as the villa began sinking. A large crack was visible at the building's base.

Luis Perez, who was staying at a villa near the sinking one, said he was in his room when the lights went off around 11:30 p.m. He said he was on his way to the front desk to report the outage when he saw firefighters and police outside.

"I started walking toward where they were at and you could see the building leaning and you could see a big crack at the base of the building," said Perez, 54, of Berona, N.J.CLERMONT, Fla.
news://newsclip.ap.org/9d094afc-df17-4588-afb0-a88eee399e0c@news.ap.org
news://newsclip.ap.org/e60d1c13-20b4-4702-8180-8c8e928102f0@news.ap.org

A sinkhole caused a section of a central Florida resort villa to partially collapse early Monday, while another section of the villa was sinking, authorities said.

About 30 percent of the three-story structure collapsed around 3 a.m. Monday, Lake County Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Tony Cuellar said. The villa at the Summer Bay Resort had already been evacuated and no injuries were reported.

Cuellar said authorities were also concerned about another section of the villa, which was sinking.The sinkhole, which is in the middle of the villa, is about 40 to 50 feet in diameter, Cuellar said.

He said authorities think it was getting deeper but couldn't tell early Monday if it was growing outward.

The villa houses 24 units and about 20 people were staying in it at the time, Cuellar said.

Authorities were called to the scene, about 10 miles west of Disney World, late Sunday where they found that the building was making popping sounds and windows were breaking.

A nearby villa was also evacuated as a precaution, Cuellar said.

Witnesses told The Associated Press they could hear a cracking sound as the villa began sinking. A large crack was visible at the building's base.Luis Perez, who was staying at a villa near the sinking one, said he was in his room when the lights went off around 11:30 p.m. He said he was on his way to the front desk to report the outage when he saw firefighters and police outside."I started walking toward where they were at and you could see the building leaning and you could see a big crack at the base of the building," said Perez, 54, of Berona, N.J.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/ap/united-states/sinkhole-causes-resort-villa-to-partially-collapse

Sinkhole damages Disney World-area resort

Dozens of guests at a Florida resort near Walt Disney World were evacuated late Sunday when at least two buildings partially collapsed after a sinkhole opened on the property's grounds, guests and resort employees said.
 
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
 
Guests "heard the building popping, and they all got out," said a Summer Bay Resort security worker. He said the buildings at least partially collapsed into a sinkholes.

 Dora Dembley, an employee at the Clermont, Fla., resort near Orlando, said Lake County fire officials responded after at least two buildings on the 64-acre property were damaged.

"Everybody was cleared out of the buildings, so nobody got hurt," said Dembley, who confirmed that multiple buildings were damaged, including one whose front was sheared off and appeared to sink into the ground.
 
Guests had only 10 to 15 minutes to leave, according to the Orlando Sentinel, with around three dozen resort-goers leaving behind car keys, medication and other personal belongings inside their luxury condominiums.
 
"My heart sunk. I was sick to my stomach," said resort president Paul Caldwell after getting a call about 10:30 p.m. from his staff that the 15-year-old buildings full of guests were sinking into the ground.
 
"No doubt there would've been injuries if they hadn't gotten the building evacuated," he said during a live news conference.
 
One witness told WFTV, a local television station, that "windows were breaking everywhere."
 
"One woman was sitting in the tub and the tub levitated, and that's when she just grabbed a pair of shorts and came out ..." guest Maggie Ghamry told the station.
 
She said another couple with an infant baby had to smash through a room window after the door frame collapsed.
 
"It was the most ... surreal experience I never could have imagined in my wildest dreams."
 
Dembley said several dozen evacuated guests were being housed in other buildings on the property, about six miles from Walt Disney World.
 
A spokesman for the Lake County Fire Department did not immediately return a call for comment.
 
Authorities are awaiting engineers to confirm whether the gaping hole in the earth is in fact a sinkhole.

video: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-florida-resort-sinkhole-20130812,0,4393338.story

http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/08/23/I-80-sinkhole-prompts-lane-closures-slows-traffic/6751377288591/
8/23/13

I-80 sinkhole prompts lane closures, slows traffic

A sinkhole that opened up on Truckee, California along I-80 is expected to delay traffic east- and westbound.

A 3-foot-wide sinkhole that developed Friday morning in Truckee, California forced the closure of two lanes along Interstate 80, officials said.

Th 8-foot-deep sinkhole opened around Donner Pass Road during a paving operation early Friday morning.

According to The Department of Transportation, east- and westbound lanes on I-80 will be delayed during the shutdown. The closure could affect commuters heading to and from Sacramento and Bay areas.

Workers are currently assessing the situation to make the necessary repairs. Authorities attributed the concavity to a corroded culvert underneath the ground.

http://www.wlbz2.com/rss/article/255033/44/Sinkhole-scare-closes-Florida-school
Sinkhole scare closes Florida school
8/29/13

TAMPA, Florida (WFLA) -- Students won't be at Cambridge Christian School in Tampa Thursday or Friday, but engineers will.

Two areas near the school's athletic field started caving in this week and classes were closed as a precaution.

"The hole was examined, filled in with dirt, and then monitored for the next several days," explained Head of School Tim Euler.

Another hole was discovered nearby Wednesday.

http://www.wlns.com/story/23305527/floods-cause-sink-whole-worriest-home-owners
8/30/13
Floods Cause Sinkhole, Worries Homeowners

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) - After Wednesday's floods tore a hole in Burchfield Street, the city brought in a contractor Friday to take a look inside the pipes.

A sink hole the size of an SUV sits down the street from Lori Fruk's home. Friday caution tape, road closure signs and city workers surrounded the site, as workers investigated the flood.

"We hope they find answers and find them soon because we can't keep wondering," said Fruk.

On Friday, a Kalamazoo company came to Burchfield to check out the pipes. They started in one end of the street and worked their way to the sinkhole to look for any damage that might have been done to the pipes.

All workers could tell 6 News Friday, was that there was a problem with the pipe's flow.

"It hit a record for the maximum amount of rainfall on any given day in the month of August since 1869," said Chad ****, the director of public service in Lansing.

However, Burchfield residents have faced flooding problems before. Two years ago floods damaged Fruk's home, causing $40,000 worth of repairs. Fruk is still not back in her home.

"We just have been trying for two years for answers and being that the issue keeps happening, keeps getting worse, we just want a home, a safe home," says Fruk.

**** says he proposed a plan to city council when the first flood hit in 2011. It would buy out the homeowners and cost the city about $400,000. The only other solution is to increase Burchfield's storm sewer size, costing Lansing tens of millions of dollars.

"We just want a safe place to lay our head and not have to worry, whether it's here, whether it's somewhere else. Just let us be able to sleep at night," said Fruk.

 **** says the issue will be addressed again at Wednesday's public meeting.

http://www.koaa.com/news/sinkhole-estimated-to-be-35-feet-deep-opens-up-on-flintridge-drive/#_
Sinkhole estimated to be 35-feet deep opens up on Flintridge Drive
9/15/13

City crews will be working late into Sunday night and early on Monday morning to fix a sinkhole estimated to be 35-feet deep on the 2700-block of Flintridge Drive in Colorado Springs.

The sinkhole opened up at around 5:30 p.m. under the driveway of a home. Nela Glemming owns the home and was inside at the time but didn't know what had happened until a passer-by knocked on her door and told her. Thankfully her home is safe and she said the driveway is actually the city's responsibility so she won't have to pay for repairs. She said she was just thankful nobody was hurt and grateful that the damage was so light compared to what others have suffered during severe weather across Colorado over the past few days.

"Nobody's hurt, my house is all intact so it's an OK thing," Glemming explained. "There's a lot of people that are really suffering through this rain and this is not that big a deal."

City workers told News 5 that some equipment to repair the hole had to be trucked in from Denver and was not expected to arrive until 2 a.m. on Monday and the work will likely take much of the day. A high pressure gas line running through the hole was not damaged but had to be shut-off while workers made repairs.

'Cylindrical' Sinkhole Swallows Marine In Missouri (Video)
9/19/13

31 year-old Marine, Husband and father, Curtis Powelson, died on Monday after falling 70 feet into a sinkhole while he was deer hunting, in Missouri. When he never returned home his wife called authorities, who gathering together 20 cops, firefighters and neighbors and started searching for the missing active duty Marine.

Tuesday morning, dead at the bottom of a 70ft unmarked sinkhole, that is believed to have opened up during heavy rains last month. According to the Pulaski County Sheriff, Ron Long, "several firefighters' and other searchers almost fell into the same sinkhole before finding Powelson's body.

"I kind of use that term loosely because I've seen sinkholes before and this was nothing like I've seen before," said Long. "It was very cylindrical."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1AvAhoNNbKU

(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hyLNzuDBdTM/Ujs-ybBXmHI/AAAAAAAAQv8/ZCcmc49J5Kg/s1600/Sinkhole1.jpg)

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S3ncBjIMnsI/Ujs-29KRiEI/AAAAAAAAQwE/2S-uOjo58jI/s1600/Sinkhole.jpg)

http://wwwwakeupamericans-spree.blogspot.com/2013/09/cylindrical-sinkhole-swallows-marine-in.html#.Uj2TKoashcY

Will the Dead Sea be eaten by sinkholes? Huge chasms are appearing in the region at a rate of one per day

The Dead Sea is drying up at a rate of one meter per year causing sinkholes

There are now over 3,000 sinkholes around the Dead Sea on the Israeli side

This compares to 40 in 1990, with the first sinkhole appearing in the 1980s

9/18/13

The Dead Sea is drying up at an incredible rate leaving huge chasms of empty space in its wake.

These chasms appear in the form of large, devastating sinkholes and are increasing in number throughout the region.

Experts claim they are now forming at a rate of nearly one a day, but have no way of knowing when or how they will show up.

(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/09/18/article-2424549-1BE155C4000005DC-334_634x360.jpg)

Estimates by Moment magazine suggest that, on the Israeli side alone, there are now over 3,000 sinkholes around the Dead Sea.

This compares to just 40 counted in 1990, with the first sinkhole appearing in the 1980s.

The Dead Sea spans more than 60 miles through Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan.

Its waters are 10 times saltier than the northern Atlantic Ocean because it has no outlet. This means that any minerals that flow there, stay there.

(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/09/18/article-2424549-1BE15568000005DC-888_634x394.jpg)

(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/09/18/article-2424549-1BE1538F000005DC-983_634x392.jpg)

The increase in sinkholes is directly related to the Dead Sea drying up at a rate of one meter per year.

Sinkholes are basically bowl-shaped features that form when an empty space under the ground creates a depression.

The depression is the result of a reaction between freshwater and salt buried in a subterranean level beneath the surface.

When the freshwater dissolves the salt, it creates a void, causing the landscape around and above it to suddenly collapse.

Over the last few decades, increasing numbers of people have been drawn to the Dead Sea causing its salt water to dry up.

This leaves more fresh water in the area to dissolve the salt and create more cavities.

And that is being done for the love of money.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/09/florida-homeowner-faces-thousands-in-damage-after-pool-rises-from-ground/?intcmp=latestnews
10/9/13
Florida homeowner faces thousands in damage after pool rises from ground

Groundwater under a Florida homeowner's backyard forced an in-ground pool to partially raise about three feet out of the dirt, prompting fears of another sinkhole, MyFoxTampaBay.com reported.

Jessica Pedraza, who lives in Brandon, which is east of Tampa, told the station that she and he husband drained the pool on Sunday. When they returned to the home on Monday night, they saw the pool jutting out of the dirt. Pedraza faces repairs that will likely total tens of thousands of dollars. Insurance will not cover the cost, the station reported.

Pedraza said her insurance company told her they likely will deny her claim. They're pointing to the "exclusions" section of her policy which includes "water below the surface of the ground...which exerts pressure on...a swimming pool or other structure."

"You pay for an insurance policy assuming that you have coverage and the coverage isn't actually there when you go to file the claim," she said.

Pedraza said the insurance company offered her $1,500, roughly the cost of sending out one of their engineers to determine the damage was caused by ground water.

Pools pop out of the ground all the time. It's a known engineering issue, especially in Florida (I was born in Tampa and my high school competed against Brandon High, and my grandparents had a pool in that area at one time). That's why they say not to empty your pool unless absolutely needed, and refill it as soon as possible. In fact, unless you have a crack that can't be fixed under water, which many cracks can, there is really no reason to drain a pool, so long as your filtration system is working and you keep it skimmed out.

Those homeowners don't have a claim that I can see.

http://www.abc27.com/story/23671012/palmyra-homes-apartments-evacuated-for-sinkhole
Palmyra homes, apartments evacuated for sinkhole
Posted: Oct 11, 2013 1:43 PM PDT Updated: Oct 11, 2013 2:00 PM PDT

PALMYRA, Pa. (WHTM) -
"They said it sounded like a bomb going off when the ground dropped out from underneath," said Wallace Bidelspach, who lives across East Cherry Street from where several sinkholes opened up Friday in Palmyra.

It didn't just "sound" like a bomb went off. It "looked" like it too.

Several chimneys collapsed, one onto a neighbor's roof.

There were concrete stairways to nowhere, that dropped into a hole after just two steps.

And there were several huge craters below that no doubt rocked the homes above.

"One of the houses, they can't open their doors," Bidelspach said. "The foundation has shifted that much."

Eight houses, four of them apartments, were evacuated.

"I was woken up at 6 o'clock this morning with pounding on my door saying I needed to move my car and evacuate because the road collapsed," said Tara Hogarth, who owns the house nearest the largest hole.

There's no official cause or damage estimates yet.

The relentless rain almost certainly contributed to the sinkholes.

Neighbors told abc27 news that ever since the borough dug up the street during a summer construction project, sinkholes have been a recurring problem. The very street that opened up had fresh blacktop and was recently repaved.

"The last one we had here, the deepest point was 70 feet," Bidelspach said. "They could barely get the boom of the crane down to the bottom of it. Once sinkholes open up they just keep going. There's nothing you can do."

Hogarth is less concerned about the cause of the sinkholes than the effect.

 "I have three kids, so having to be displaced for God knows how long, it's gonna be tough," she said.

When it rains it pours in Palmyra, where sinkholes are a frequent phenomena.

"It's disconcerting," Bidelspach said. "It's scary. Our property values are plummeting here."

Despite the rain and the wreckage, Hogarth realizes nobody was hurt and she managed to keep a sunny disposition on an incredibly dreary day.

Does she have a smile on her face?

"I'm trying," she said with a carefree laugh. "That's all I can do at this point."

http://fox2now.com/2013/09/24/pics-street-collapses-under-trash-truck-in-north-st-louis/
Trash truck falls into sink hole in north St. Louis
9/24/13

ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) – It was a terrifying start to the shift for one St. Louis City Refuse worker Tuesday morning.  One second, he was picking up trash on the city’s north side.  The next, he was in a sinkhole.

Around 6:45 a.m., an alley off Blair Avenue near Newhouse Avenue collapsed under the wheels of a brand-new trash truck.

“I get cave-ins almost all the time,” Third Ward Alderman Freeman Bosley, Sr. turned to look at the truck, sitting in a hole surrounded by broken concrete slabs.  “Not quite this bad.  This is one of the worst ones I’ve seen.”

Bosley was not shocked, even after learning the driver escaped unhurt.

“I’m glad he’s safe.  But these old alleys up and down here, this stuff is well over a hundred years old,” he explained.  “And, anything over a hundred years old deteriorates.”

Bosley also explained the sinkhole was just another symptom of the city’s budget problems.

“All the aldermen get is money from a 3/8-cent sales tax. And, by golly, when you split that 28 ways,” the city has 28 wards.  “You can only do one or two alleys.”

Residents were not surprised, either.

“No,” said Tew Jennings, who lived two blocks away.  “No, I’m not surprised that this happened in North St. Louis.”

Jennings said only a few alleys are getting major overhauls to accommodate residential parking.  But, he said most alleys see almost no traffic.

“So, I’m not surprised the attention isn’t given to the alleys.”

You could see a crack that ran the entire length of the alley and ended where the truck came to rest.  Streets director Todd Waeltermann said the alley was so dangerous, he sent away the two 20-ton tow trucks meant to move the trash truck.  Instead, he said crews would work on building a ramp to pull the truck out of the hole.  Still, residents and the alderman said problems would remain.

“This is one of the oldest areas on the City of St. Louis,” Bosley said.  “And, age wears out almost everything.”

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Big-sinkhole-swallows-cars-in-Galleria-area--224922632.html
Dangerous sinkhole swallows cars in Galleria area
9/23/13

HOUSTON — A big sinkhole was swallowing cars near the intersection of Richmond and Fountainview in the Galleria Area Monday.

Some drivers mistook the eight-foot-deep hole for a large puddle of water and drove right into it.

Ashley Johnson’s 2013 Ford was no match for the sinkhole and one of her wheels got stuck.

"There is a big hole right here. I don’t know where this came from," Johnson said.

She was one of the lucky ones because another foot to the left and her car would have sunk.

Brian Muller hit the hole Monday morning before the city put up orange warning cones and barrels.

"I tried to go around the side of it and my car fell in the hole," Muller said. "The water was going over the hole so I did not even know that there was a hole there."

Workers at the restaurant construction site next door pulled Muller’s car out. They noticed a big pothole there last Thursday and said they called the city to report it. No one responded.

The weekend downpours then turned the pothole into a sinkhole.

The Public Works Department confirmed it received a phone call about a water main break in the area on Saturday.

Around 1 p.m. Monday, city crews finally closed one lane at the intersection to begin repairs.

They came too late for Muller and Johnson.

"I’m a little more shocked than mad right now. I am mad that my car is, like, probably totaled," Johnson said.

http://www.keloland.com/newsdetail.cfm/sinkhole-grows-in-downtown-sioux-falls/?id=153769
Sinkhole Grows In Downtown Sioux Falls
9/26/13

SIOUX FALLS, SD -
Mention the term sinkhole and most people expect the location would be in Florida or Louisiana.
 
Now you can add downtown Sioux Falls to the list.

A sinkhole sprouted last Friday just south of the intersection of 14th Street and Phillips Avenue and it's been growing ever since. The pit now warrants construction barriers and a roadblock.

 Public Works Director Mark Cotter says the issue is connected to a failure in the pipe connecting the private property to the city's main sewer pipes under Phillips Avenue. He adds that fixing the problem could last through Friday.

Sinkhole 'swallows' house, 4 dead

Posted at 10/27/2013 3:50 PM | Updated as of 10/27/2013 3:50 PM

MANILA-- Four people died as a sinkhole "swallowed" a house in Brgy. Ubojan, Antequerra, Bohol.

Sinkholes appeared in different parts of the province after the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that hit the Visayas last October 15.

The house belonged to the Barace family.

Two members of the family survived the incident. Saturnino Barace Jr., one of the survivors, waited for six hours before he was rescued. Half of his body was trapped in the rubble left behind by the sinkhole.

Relatives of the the family started unearthing the victims' bodies.

Authorities have reportedly put the area under surveillance as there are other cracks found near the area of the sinkhole.

Despite what happened, the remaining members of the Barace family are planning to return to the area.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/10/27/13/sinkhole-swallows-house-4-dead

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local/chicago_news&id=9321539&rss=rss-wls-article-9321539
11/11/13
Chicago sinkhole threatens South Side home

November 11, 2013 (CHICAGO) (WLS) --  Crews turned the water back on for residents living near a huge sinkhole that opened up in a South Side neighborhood.

The sinkhole swallowed up part of the street at 124th Street and Wentworth. The city's water department says it opened up Sunday night as a result of a water-main break and became progressively larger. The water department had to turn off the water to a two-block radius temporarily as crews worked to repair it.

Not only had the water been turned off, but a handful of basements were flooded -- some with as much as two feet of water -- as a result of the break.

Crews were also working to remove a tree that was caught inside the 14-foot sinkhole. Crews will have to make it larger in order to get to the water main.

The hole, measuring 20 by 80 feet, appears to have started when a pipe servicing the house with a small leak inside eroded over time and washed out the drain and support from under the road. On Sunday night, it gave way.

"Depending on what's underneath it, we're hoping by the end of the week we should have the street repaired," said Dep. Comm. Bill Bresnahan, Chicago Water Department. "We will have water on to these people before we leave here, hopefully by the end of the day."

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/florida-sinkhole/19931041
Forty-Foot-Wide Sinkhole Leads to Evacuations, Possible Condemned Homes
11/15/13

Several Florida homes in a St. Petersburg-area neighborhood have been evacuated as a 40-foot-wide and 30-foot-deep sinkhole threatens the properties.

So far, a home's patio has already been swallowed by the hole. Neighbors were evacuated as a precaution.

Dunedin, Fla., Fire Chief Jeff Parks told AccuWeather.com that, as of 10:30 a.m. EST, seven homes have been affected by the evacuations. Two of the homes will likely need to be condemned as a result. One of the homes was already vacant, and the remaining houses that are occupied will likely be able to be returned to later today.

"It's an unfortunate situation for homeowners, but fortunately no one is hurt at this time," Chief Parks said.

Sinkholes are fairly common in Florida, as much of the ground is primed for the holes to form. Known as karst terrain, the ground is made of limestone, carbonate rock, salt beds or rocks that can dissolve over time as groundwater circulates through them. Heavy rain can also play a role in causing enough of a breakdown in the rock for the hole to open up. By contrast, a drought could also cause a sinkhole to form as the low water table causes a loss of stability.

AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Dan Kottlowski said that though conditions are not extremely dry, the area has been drier than usual since the end of summer. Rainfall amounts have been above normal overall for the year but have been about an inch below normal for the past few weeks.

Some sinkholes are "manmade," that is, affected by underground development, such as sewer systems, that increase the rate of degradation of the karst terrain. Director of the Eastern Geology and Paleoclimate Science Center for the U.S. Geological Survey Randall Orndorff told AccuWeather.com that there is no evidence that sinkholes are occurring more frequently. However, as human development increases in sinkhole-prone areas, it likely follows that more sinkholes would be reported.

Last March, a man in Seffner, Fla., lost his life when a sinkhole swallowed his home.

Chief Parks said that, aside from evacuating, calling 911 to report a sinkhole is an important safety measure to take.

This particular community has seen sinkholes in the past, as recently as five years ago. Chief Parks reported that a survey team had been in the area recently to look into filling some sinkhole risks.

Video: Watermain Break Triggers Huge Geyser and Sinkhole in Anaheim Neighborhood
http://news.yahoo.com/video/watermain-break-triggers-huge-geyser-064019403.html

11/16/13

Officials say a water main break along the 3400 block of East La Palma in Anaheim sent massive volumes of water gushing into the street, creating this sink hole 10 feet deep from all the pressure on a 36-inch transmission line. Crews immediately shut down traffic in both directions to avoid a potentially dangerous situation. Kareen Wynter reports from Anaheim for the KTLA 5 News at 10 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15, 2013.

http://news.yahoo.com/bosnians-panic-sinkhole-swallows-village-pond-072935587.html
Bosnians panic as sinkhole swallows village pond
11/26/13

SANICA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Just outside the rustic village, children fished in a tranquil pond bobbing with green algae and lined with willow trees, as cattle grazed nearby.

Now, Rezak Motanic gazes in disbelief down a gigantic moonlike crater where the pond used to be. It's like something from a science fiction movie: a sinkhole swallowed the water, the fish and even nearby trees.

"I sat here only a day before it happened, sipping plum brandy," Cemal Hasan said. "And then, there was panic. Fish were jumping out, and a big plum tree was pulled down like someone yanked it with a hook."

The villagers of this remote northwestern Bosnian village have been in shock since the pond vanished two weeks ago.

Their pond was some 20 meters (yards) in diameter and about eight meters deep. Now, the "abyss," as the villagers have dubbed the crater, is some 50 meters wide and 30 meters deep — and growing.

Scientists say it is not uncommon that ponds and small lakes suddenly disappear. They say it could be caused by drying underground water currents, or changes in soil drainage due to irrigation.

The Sanica villagers, however, are having none of the scientific explanations.

"It could have been a giant cave that opened its doors," offered Milanko Skrbic. "Or a volcano."

Another popular theory — one that experts dismiss along with the others proposed by townsfolk — is that fish could have triggered the explosion of one of several World War II German bombs believed to have been thrown into the pond by an old woman after the war.

"She herself died when one of the bombs exploded in her arms," Cemal Hasan said as he stood on the edge of the "abyss."

Another spooky explanation: The owner of the pond took it with him when he died about a month ago.

"Only days before Hasan passed away he said: 'I'll take everything with me when I die.' And that's what he did," Motanic said. "His daughter saw him walk on the lake the night he died."

Husein Nanic said it could be a sign that the end is nigh: "All sort of miracles happen before the doomsday," he said.

45 sinkholes open up in Kaski, Nepal - 50 families displaced so far

At least 45 sinkholes have been reported in Armala in Kaski District of Nepal.

Sinkholes in Armala VDC of Kaski district have displaced more than 50 families in a week.
 
Sinkholes have swallowed several houses including household belongings like tables, chairs, kitchen utensils, and gas cylinders.
 
Nearby Riverdel School has also been closed due to the threat of sinkholes, Ujyaalo Online reported.
 
Geologists have concluded that Kaski, Nepal sinkholes have been caused as a result of haphazard construction of buildings.

rest: http://www.sott.net/article/269432-45-sinkholes-open-up-in-Kaski-Nepal-50-families-displaced-so-far

Video: Sinkhole swallows car in California
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/21134540/vp=53771708&#53771708

Talk about a low rider caddy!  :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nen_SEt3dKI

http://www.local12.com/template/cgi-bin/archived.pl?type=basic&file=/news/features/top-stories/stories/archive/2013/12/akCzx53d.xml#.UrSj9ct3saI
LOCAL 12 - Search Results

The following is an archived video story. The text content of that video story is available below for reference. The original video has been deleted and is no longer available.

Florida Sinkhole Destroys Two Homes

DUNEDIN, Fla. (WKRC) -- A sinkhole claims two homes near Tampa, Florida. The hole is about 100 feet wide and 50 feet deep. One family got out of their house just in time.

The sinkhole was only about 12 feet wide when firefighters first arrived on the scene.
It eventually grew big enough to swallow up a boat and the back porch of a house and then a bedroom and the pool of the house next door.

Michael Dupre says his frightened daughter woke him up shortly before 6 a.m. on Thursday. At first they thought someone was breaking in, but it wasn't a burglar it was parts of his home collapsing into a massive crater, "and as I approach the back of the house, I see our screen room just sticking out 3 feet off the ground, so I knew instantly, ok, something opened up."

Dupre has actually known there was a sinkhole under his house for two years. Because of disagreements with his insurance company, he says, work to shore up the home only started three days ago.

The Dupres say they feel lucky to be alive. The Dupres have not been allowed back in their home and they never will.  Their house and the one next door have both been condemned.  Crews are already demolishing it and have started to fill in the hole with dirt.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/31/22125262-hawaii-sinkhole-swallows-truck-with-driver-in-it?lite
12/31/13
Hawaii sinkhole swallows truck — with driver in it

(http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/131231-sinkhole-hawaii-3p.photoblog600.jpg)

 Hawaii woman was thankful to be alive Tuesday after an enormous sinkhole opened up and swallowed her pickup truck — with her still inside.

Velma Deluz of Paauilo was driving to work on the Big Island after a weekend of major rainstorms when Pohakea Mauka Road shifted and gave way Monday morning, the state's civil defense office said.

"When I made the turn, the road just sucked me right in, and then I just fell in," Deluz told NBC station KHNL of Honolulu. "I tried to climb out through the window because it fell on its side."

Deluz said she suffered minor rib injuries but was otherwise all right.

The driving rains continued throughout the day Monday, setting a Dec. 30 record of 5.51 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2535133/Rio-slum-gets-swallowed-giant-sink-hole.html
Watch as giant sinkhole swallows up Brazilian neighbourhood house by house as terrified inhabitants look on in disbelief

•The terrifying incident was captured on CCTV in the city of Abaetetuba

•Gigantic craters, caused by water erosion, opened up in the ground

•Electrical wires above the houses started snapping - giving a warning sign 

By Janet Tappin Coelho In Brazil

PUBLISHED: 05:01 EST, 7 January 2014  | UPDATED: 07:51 EST, 7 January 2014

Residents in a town in the north of Brazil screamed in horror as they watched their homes disappear into massive sink holes on the weekend.

The terrifying incident was captured on CCTV cameras in the city of Abaetetuba in the northern state of Para.

These pictures show the moment gigantic craters, caused by water erosion, open up in the ground and swallow dozens of houses.

Moments before the disaster happened, electrical wires above the houses started snapping and breaking.

This was the warning sign that more than likely saved people’s lives – as no-one was injured in the disaster.

Panicking residents can be seen frantically running to a house on the right of the screen as a woman on the first floor resorts to desperate measures by throwing her child out of a window.

more


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7Nlqi_S4ig

Sinkholes: Exploring the science behind the catastrophes

A new special on Discovery's "Destination America" includes first-hand accounts of sinkhole survivors. Geologist Drew Glasbrenner - who is on the show - and contributor Michio Kaku, a physics professor at the City College of New York, talk to the "CBS This Morning" co-hosts about the phenomenon and why Florida is 'ground zero' for sinkholes. Find more CBSTV Videos videos on Yahoo Screen.

3 minute news clip: http://screen.yahoo.com/viral-hits/sinkholes-exploring-science-behind-catastrophes-161745492-cbs.html

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/01/20/massive-sinkhole-opens-up-in-detroit/
1/20/14
Downtown Detroit hit by massive sinkhole

Officials say it could take days to repair a massive sinkhole that has opened up in downtown Detroit.

The sinkhole, which opened up Saturday just blocks away from the North American International Auto Show, is now about 14 feet deep, WJBK reports.

Traffic in the area is being disrupted as crews work to fix the hole, which is 10 feet wide, according to WWJ-AM.

When asked about the cause of the sinkhole, Michigan Department of Transportation spokeswoman Diane Cross said the city has “older substructures underneath the roadways.”

“Age is always a factor – that’s going to be the kind of thing that’s going to have to be determined as well,” she said, according to Deadline Detroit.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/massive-sinkhole-swallows-vintage-corvettes-n28416

Massive Sinkhole Swallows Vintage Corvettes

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BgSNU9yCAAA_0Db.jpg)

Corvette fans may want to look away. A massive sinkhole opened up beneath the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, swallowing eight of the cars on display.

Museum officials said no one was in the museum at the time of the collapse, which triggered an alarm system early Wednesday morning. The sinkhole appeared to be about twenty feet deep, and opened up under a domed section of the museum where the cars had been displayed on pedestals.

The cars were among some of the most coveted by admirers of the popular sports car. Among the cars affected:
•1993 ZR-1 Spyder on loan from General Motors
•2009 ZR1 "Blue Devil" on loan from General Motors
•1962 Black Corvette
•1984 PPG Pace Car
•1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette
•1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette
•2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette
•2009 White 1.5 Millionth Corvette

The museum plans to remain open, though the domed area where the damage occured cas been cordoned off. A structural engineer has been called to assess the damage and test stability of the surrounding areas.

The dome is part of the original museum, begun in 1992 and completed in 1994. The museum will celebrate its 20th anniversary in September.

--The Associated Press and WSMV contributed to this report

First published February 12th 2014, 7:41 am 

Yet another reason to not lay up treasures on earth!

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/weather/news/article.cfm?c_id=10&objectid=11207216&ref=rss
More sinkholes open up in Britain

11:11 AM Friday Feb 21, 2014

A spate of sinkholes have opened up across the country as floodwater dissolves the underlying rock, while a "second wave" is likely to appear in the coming weeks as the rain stops and the ground begins to dry, the British Geological Survey warned yesterday.

The number of sinkholes reported has soared to six so far this month - many times more than the one to two that is typical across the whole of a normal year, experts said.

These have generally occurred as soluble rocks such as chalk, limestone and gypsum have been eroded by a sudden infusion of water from the heavy rainstorms which has made existing underground cavities bigger and causing the ground above it to collapse.

A house collapsed in Ripon this week when a sinkhole appeared following the erosion of the underlying gypsum.

This followed a particularly large 20ft deep sinkhole in a Hemel Hempstead garden on Saturday which forced the evacuation of about 20 homes.

"There has been a significant increase in sinkholes over the past few weeks and it's reasonable to suggest that this is related to the increase in rainfall," said Dr Vanessa Bank, of the British Geological Survey.

"How long this goes on for very much depends on the weather. But there is likely to be more rainfall and my personal opinion is that we are talking about weeks," she added.

Dr Anthony Cooper, also of the British Geological Survey, said that as the rainfall declined and the land started to dry out a " second wave" of sinkholes was likely. This is because, as the hole beneath the ground drains out, the covering materials become heavier - at the same time as the increased buoyancy from rising groundwater levels is taken away.

"How long the 'second wave' lasts depends on the local geology and how the water is stored, but it will be over the next few months," Dr Cooper said.

The south east of England - from Norwich down to the coast is particularly susceptible to sinkholes because there is a lot of chalk, while parts of Yorkshire, such as Doncaster and Ripon are more susceptible. The South West, where the underlying rock is less soluble, is less at risk.

Sinkholes are naturally occurring cavities - or holes in the ground - created by the erosion and drainage of water and can be just a few feet across or large enough to swallow whole buildings.

When a hole develops above a manmade cavity, for example where mining has taken place and hasn't been properly filled, it is known as a dene hole - although these cases are typically lumped in with sink holes. Two of this month's sinkholes are related to former mines.

Other sinkholes to have opened up this month include a 30ft deep one in a driveway in Walter's Ash, near High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and swallowed up a Volkswagon Lupon.

Last week, a 10-mile stretch of the M2 in Kent had to be closed after a 15ft sinkhole opened up in the central reservation near Sittingbourne.

Although there has been a spate of sinkholes appearing this month, the most famous one appeared in Norwich back in 1988. As the driver of a Number 26 double-decker bus attempted to pull away on the Earlham Road just outside the city centre, a large section of the road surface collapsed beneath the rear wheels following the collapse of the 11th century chalk mine beneath. The passengers managed to scramble out before the vehicle slipped further into the pit and the event hit the headlines around the world.

However, even this sinkhole pales in comparison to some of the sinkholes seen in the US. In 2010, one of the most devastating sinkholes in recent times hit Guatemala City. An area approximately 65ft wide and 100ft deep collapsed, swallowing a three-storey factory and killing 15 people. The sinkhole was caused by a number of factors including an influx of water from Tropical Storm Agatha and leakage from a local sewerage pipe.

Sinkhole epidemic Terrifying holes that are opening up all over Britain: They’re appearing at FIVE TIMES their normal rate


    Sinkholes seen in Kent, South-East London and Hemel Hempstead
    One in High Wycombe engulfed a car as it was parked in the driveway
    Expert believes sinkholes are appearing five times their normal rate
    Forecast heavy rain could mean more holes appear around the country

On Saturday, a huge sinkhole opened up at the side of a house in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. Swallowing up half of the front lawn, it was 35ft wide and 20ft deep.

Last week, a hole as deep as a double-decker bus is high suddenly opened up in the back-garden of a house in South-East London, almost swallowing a child’s trampoline as the ground collapsed without warning.

Had the poor owner’s daughter been rushing out to play on the trampoline, she could have very easily have been seriously injured or even killed.

Scroll down for video pics and rest...

http://countdowntozerotime.com/2014/02/25/sinkhole-epidemic-terrifying-holes-that-are-opening-up-all-over-britain-theyre-appearing-at-five-times-their-normal-rate/

9m
Large sinkhole forms in Detroit - via @Local4News


(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bj1otKHCYAE6K6l.jpg:large)

Gone in just five seconds: Young mother flees with her newborn baby as sinkhole claims her house

    Anastasia Tatarnikov, 28, thought she was running from an earthquake
    Massive sinkhole appeared as a result of mining work in the city of Ridder
    120 homes listed as being at risk and 480 people have been evacuated

A young mother grabbed her newborn baby and fled after her home just seconds before it    vanished into a massive hole.

Anastasia Tatarnikov, 28, thought she was running from an earthquake, but according to emergency officials the massive sinkhole had appeared as a result of mining work in the city of Ridder in eastern Kazakhstan.

In total 120 homes have been listed as being at risk and 480 people have been evacuated.

Scroll down for video

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2598763/Gone-just-five-seconds-Young-mother-flees-newborn-baby-sinkhole-claims-house.html#ixzz2yJ6ihmwz

http://www.webpronews.com/florida-sinkhole-reopens-and-threatens-neighborhood-2014-04
4/20/14
Florida Sinkhole Reopens and Threatens Neighborhood

A Florida Sinkhole more than 25 feet across and 50 feet deep opened up between two homes this weekend in the Florida residential community “The Villages.” The hole opened after heavy rainfall in the area put stress on the soil, causing the ground to collapse. This new sinkhole comes just weeks after a previous sinkhole was filled in on the same property. Crews has just finished completely filling and securing the first hole on Friday night when they were back on Saturday night to treat an adjacent, and larger, sinkhole. (I think it’s time to look into some new property, homeowners!)

Thankfully, no one was injured, and both families were out of the house when parts of their yard and driveway were sucked into the hole. Crews this time worked round the clock Saturday and Sunday morning to work on filling the dangerous hole as soon as possible. This much larger hole has great potential to spread and open even larger next time, threatening the entire block and even neighborhood. Currently, the hole is being filled with 115 truckloads of grout, with sand hole crews telling local news they’ll lay dirt, grass, and landscaping starting on Monday.

One of the homes is also secured with steel pinnings directly to the limestone, which can keep the structure in place if another hole opened. ‘The house isn’t going to go anywhere, as long as the hole doesn’t move much past where it is right now,’ geologist Drew Glasbrenner says. ‘You can never know for sure but the repair should slow it down and eventually stop it from expanding,’ he added.

County officials say that if sinkholes continue to be a problem in the area (which is likely during the rainy season), more residents could be asked to evacuate their homes as a safety precaution. This is an all too common problem in Florida, which is only second behind Minnesota in most sinkholes in the United States. Three Tampa Bay counties – Hernando, Pasco, and Hillborough – are known as “sinkhole alley,” as two-thirds of all of Florida’s sinkhole damage comes from that area.

What exactly causes these holes to open in the ground? For one, Florida’s peninsula is made of porous carbonate limestone rocks, which are rocks that help move water underground. Over time, these rocks dissolve from an acid created by the oxygen molecules in water, creating gaps underneath the limestone roof. When the pressure on the surface becomes too much for the limestone roof to carry, the roof collapses and the dissolved limestone hole is exposed. The most extreme case of sinkhole damage happened just last February, when Florida man Jeffrey Bush was sucked into a sinkhole that opened underneath his bedroom. Despite an exhaustive search, his body was never found.

http://beforeitsnews.com/environment/2014/04/creeping-landslide-devouring-part-of-jackson-wyoming-splits-home-in-half-2498760.html85

By LavenderRose
Contributor

JACKSON Wyoming EVACUATION Landslide Devouring Houses & Businesses EARTHQUAKES INTENSIFY IN RING OF FIRE – Another Sign YELLOWSTONE IS ABOUT TO BLOW JACKSON TOWN COUNCIL DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY AND ADOPTS DISASTER DECLARATION

Sunday, April 20, 2014 12:12

Block-Long Sinkhole Swallows Cars in Baltimore

A block-long sinkhole opened up in a residential neighborhood in rain-soaked Baltimore on Wednesday, devouring cars and forcing the evacuation of several houses.

The sinkhole opened next to railroad tracks used by CSX in the first block of 26th Street in northeast Baltimore, the Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management said. A photo uploaded to the Twitter account showed several cars swallowed in the pit.

CSX said an embankment collapsed onto the railroad tracks. It said rail traffic in the area has been suspended.

Residents in the rowhouses on the block were being evacuated and a building inspector was called to the scene, the fire department said.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said there were no injuries or fatalities.

PICS: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/block-long-sinkhole-swallows-cars-baltimore-n94096

http://news.yahoo.com/sinkhole-opens-austin-peay-stadium-tennessee-113510930.html;_ylt=A0LEVxvY6XtTrScAb49XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB0a2ZiMmNoBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1ZJUDI5M18x
Sinkhole opens at Austin Peay stadium in Tennessee
5/20/14

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Construction crews in Tennessee are working to fill a sinkhole that opened at Austin Peay State University's Governors Stadium.

The Leaf-Chronicle (http://leafne.ws/1o1vCDa) reports the sinkhole started out small, about 3 feet by 5 feet, but workers have had to dig a much larger hole — about 40 feet deep and 40 feet wide — to find stable bedrock.

The hole was discovered about a month ago where the football field meets the track during a project to replace the main stadium building.

Mike Jenkins, superintendent for Nashville-based Bell & Associates Construction, told the newspaper sinkholes are common in the area and the budget included sinkhole remediation funding.

Jenkins said workers continued to excavate Monday while officials met with a geotechnical engineer. He said the hole will be filled with rock and concrete.

http://news.msn.com/us/sinkhole-swallows-car-in-western-pennsylvania
Sinkhole swallows car in western Pennsylvania
8/13/14

PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - A woman was hospitalized on Tuesday after her car fell into a sinkhole that opened up in a Pittsburgh-area parking lot, officials said.

News footage showed the sinkhole in Ross Township, Pennsylvania, was about three times the width of a car and filled with water.

The sinkhole opened up in the parking lot of a tanning salon, according to an Allegheny County Police dispatcher.

The woman was backing out of a parking space when her car sank, and local media photos showed a white sedan falling into the hole rear-end first.

She escaped out of her car window before the vehicle submerged and was listed in good condition at an area hospital, according to WPXI television.

Sinkholes form when rock below the earth's surface is dissolved by groundwater, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Local media reported that a storm drain runoff pipe had collapsed during recent heavy rains.

Giant sinkholes around the world(26 examples in link)
http://news.msn.com/offbeat/giant-sinkholes-around-the-world

Video shows enormous crack in the ground in northern Mexico

Incredible footage has emerged showing a 26ft (8m) deep crack in the in the farmland of northwest Mexico, which stretches for over a kilometre.

The crevice which appeared last week, has disconnected Highway 26 between Hermosillo and the coast, Sky News reported.

Drivers, including farm workers, have been forced to navigate around the colossal trench.

The video showcasing the crack that in some parts is 16ft (5m) wide, was shot using a camera attached to a drone device.

It shows vehicles stopped beside the crack, while a green tractor drives away from the scene. People below the drone appear to be discussing the situation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6-MAPOFshM0

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/video-shows-enormous-crack-in-the-ground-in-northern-mexico-9684673.html

http://news.msn.com/science-technology/why-are-there-so-many-sinkholes-in-florida-1
8/24/14
Why Are There So Many Sinkholes in Florida?

As pieces of the Sunshine State collapse in on themselves, new technology offers hope for early warning.

The state that’s well known for hurricanes and alligators has another high-profile natural worry on its list: the possibility that the Earth could, at any moment, gobble up a whole neighborhood.

Yes, Florida has more sinkholes than any other state in the nation, according to the local agency that oversees insurance regulations and compliance. Sinkholes have been spotted at least three times in as many months—May inWinter Haven, June inJonesville, and July inSpring Hill.

One technology that could help: a new remote sensor from NASA to predict sinkhole formations. It's called Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar(InSAR), and uses satellites and drones to detect changes in ground elevations over time. Such changes may indicate an area’s vulnerability for sinkholes. Think of it as an ultrasound for Mother Earth.

“Basically, the InSAR technique precisely compares repeat radar observations to measure very subtle deformation of the Earth's surface,” says Ronald Blom, a geologist with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Sinkholes sometimes produce surface deformation (usually subsidence) prior to collapse, but not always. This is a critical point, not all sinkholes have deformation prior to collapse. InSAR is not a magic bullet, but it could be a useful tool as part of a more complete observational scheme.” 

The technology was used in March 2014 as part of an ongoing NASA campaign to monitor the sinking of the ground along the Louisiana Gulf Coast. Officials in Florida are hopeful that it might be useful in their state. “We’ve reached out to NASA, but no response yet,” says Jim Lamar, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. “We are hoping to learn more about the program and its capabilities and applications in Florida regarding terrain-change detection.” So, what causes these earth-swallowers in the first place?

Clint Kromhout, a geologist in the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, wrote the paper "What’s Up with All the Sinkholes?":

The bulk of Florida’s peninsula is made up carbonate rock (limestone and dolostone) overlain by variable thicknesses and mixtures of sand and clay (i.e., overburden). Carbonate rocks store and transmit groundwater. Through a slow chemical process these carbonate rocks may dissolve, resulting in karst terrain (topography). Karst terrains are characterized by sinkholes, caves (wet and dry), springs, disappearing/reappearing streams, and other land surface depressions all of which are commonly found throughout Florida.

Both natural phenomena and human activity can trigger sinkholes. Heavy rainfall, especially after a drought, and tropical storms contribute to the forming of a sinkhole, while man-made sinkholes can be prompted by heavy pumping of groundwater for agricultural protection, investigative drilling, and excavation.

As far as picking a safe non-sinkhole region, where there is no chance of getting your house sucked in—there are no guarantees. From the Florida Geological Survey:

Since the entire state is underlain by carbonate rocks, sinkholes could theoretically form anywhere. However, there are definite regions where sinkhole risk is considerably higher. In general, areas of the state where limestone is close to surface, or areas with deeper limestone but with a conducive configuration of water table elevation, stratigraphy, and aquifer characteristics have increased sinkhole activity.

Reports of sinkholes show up in Florida newspapers so often, they deserve their own section. But Kromhout says, despite popular perception, that there does not seem to be an increase in sinkholes across the state. “I am doubtful that sinkholes are occurring any more frequently than any other time with Florida’s recent geologic past,” says Kromhout. (Then again, Kromhout says he isn't aware of any studies that have assessed sinkhole frequency over time.)

The U.S. Geological Survey doesn't track the frequency of sinkholes. Quite simply, it is difficult to do, says Randall Orndoff, a supervisory geologist at the agency.

“First, it must be determined that a collapse feature or event is actually geologic.  Many collapse events we see in the news are related to our aging infrastructure and are caused by leaky sewers, storm drains, and water mains,” he says. “Second, sinkholes occur in about 20 percent of the conterminous US and many occur in rural areas, in farmer's fields and woodlands and never get reported.  Also, many sinkholes subside over time (not a catastrophic collapse) and if it does not adversely impact a building or other property, it would probably not be reported.”

Even if sinkholes aren’t happening more frequently, there is evidence that they’re affecting more people. The state’s Office of Insurance Regulation said 6,694 sinkhole-related claims were filed in 2010 compared with 2,360 claims in 2006. Even if there were an absolute way to prevent sinkholes, a whopper like the Winter Park sinkhole that swallowed 250,000 cubic yards of earth is, geologist Kromhout says, “likely impossible” to prevent.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/sinkhole-deep-you-cant-see-4099784#ixzz3BQvjql9U
Sinkhole so deep you can't see the bottom opens up in County Durham
8/24/14

A 100ft-wide sinkhole that is so deep you can't see the bottom has opened up in County Durham.

The gaping void, thought to be the result of mine workings deep beneath the surface, is just a stone’s throw from a couple’s farmhouse.

It was three times smaller when it was first discovered on Thursday morning, at Cowshill, in the rural area of Weardale, by Durham University academic Sam Hillyard, but more earth has since collpased.

Sam, 39, had been out shooting rabbits with her black Labrador Jack and was returning to her home, Burtree Pastures, when she noticed the 30ft hole.

Overnight, the hole sank further to reveal an abyss. And it is feared rain forecast for over the Bank Holiday may see it become larger still.

Sam’s partner John Hensby, a retired sales trainer, 71, told the Newcastle Chronicle: “Sam came back and she was looking quite shocked.

“She told me that a hole had appeared and I said I best go and have a look.

“At the time, it was about five metres round. Throughout Thursday night it got bigger and bigger until it was about three times that size on Friday morning.

“It is about 35 metres wide and you can’t see the bottom of it.

“The sound was phenomenal. We could hear rumbling and smashing and crashing from down below; all of these great lumps of earth were falling in and falling in.

“If one of the dogs or the sheep fell in we would never see them again.

“On Friday morning it looked to be about 100ft deep.”

The couple’s home is between two former mines, Sedling Pit and Burtree Pastures Pit. Today Sam and John live in the old pit master’s home and the house is surrounded by sheep farms.

But one of the old mine shafts remains just metres from where the ground has given way.

John informed Durham County Council and Durham Police of the hole as a precaution.

Now, they will wait to see if it gets any deeper as downpours are expected for Monday.

John said: “With more rain coming tomorrow and on Monday we could see a lot more of the hole.”

http://news.msn.com/us/bus-gets-stuck-in-suburban-phoenix-sinkhole
Bus gets stuck in suburban Phoenix sinkhole
9/3/14

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — A city bus got stuck in a sinkhole after a water main broke in suburban Phoenix, forcing the passengers and driver to evacuate through the windows.

Tempe police say the back right side of the bus fell into the hole at about 10 a.m. Wednesday. All 11 passengers and the driver got out safely.

It took about two hours for city crews to shut off all the valves and stop the flow of water in the area of Apache Boulevard and McClintock Drive.

Two tow trucks tried to pull the bus from the sinkhole, but authorities say the bus was too heavy. A crane was brought in and hoisted the bus out of the sinkhole around 5 p.m.

Some residents in the area reported water damage in their homes, and the operators of a motel said some guests had to be moved out after water covered the bottom floor.

Authorities say the cause of the water main break hasn't been determined, but it likely was due to the age of the infrastructure. Police say nearby light rail tracks weren't impacted by the water and trains were still operating.

http://enenews.com/sinkhole-develops-dam-water-starting-seep-base-7-nuclear-reactors-downstream-nrc-notified-event-plants-evaluating-potential-impact-flooding-official-uncommon-occurrence-monitoring-continuousl
10/31/14
Sinkhole develops under dam in US — 7 nuclear reactors downstream — Water now seeping out — Gov’t notified of ‘stability issues’, plants begin evaluating potential flood impacts — Official: An ‘uncommon’ occurrence, we’re monitoring it continuously and working around clock — Structure same height as Niagra Falls (PHOTOS)

Johnson City Press, Oct. 30, 2014 (emphasis added): Oct. 20 inspection of [Tennessee's Boone] dam revealed a sink hole… Six days later, an uncommon occurrence happened when seepage was found near the location of the sink hole at the base of the dam…

NRC, Oct. 30, 2014: … BOONE DAM STABILITY ISSUES… “TVA conducted a briefing for government officials… after discovery of a sink hole near the base… water and sediment [has been] found seeping from the river below the dam. TVA is continuously monitoring the dam… The dam is located upstream of all three TVA nuclear sites… The NRC Senior Resident Inspector was notified. The licensee is evaluating this event for potential impact on the design basis flooding level.”

Times Free Press, Oct. 30, 2014: Tennessee Valley Authority engineers [will] search for the source of water seepage… Water and sediment were found Sunday seeping from the river bank below the dam.

TVA, Oct. 30, 2014: A sink hole was discovered near the base… water and sediment was found seeping from the river bank below the dam…

John McCormick, VP at TVA: [We're] exercising an abundance of caution… Unless it’s a huge storm, we can do what we need… we are continuously monitoring the dam… engineers want to be sure we understand what caused the sink hole and where the water and sediment is coming from.

WCYB, Oct. 30, 2014: [A] sinkhole and seepage of clay particulates into the water at Boone dam… [is near] the bottom of structure on the river side of the dam… TVA employees are working around the clock to find the cause of the sinkhole and the source of the seepage. “The seepage into the waterway is not a common occurrence,” said McCormick… they do not have a definite timetable for finding the source of the seepage…

Boone Dam is just over the border from Virginia, where a powerful M5.9 quake struck in 2011 — Times Free Press: TVA inspects dams, nuclear plants after earthquake [and] is in the process of performing visual walk downs and inspections at… Boone

USGS: [Quakes] in the eastern U.S. can travel much farther and cause damage over larger areas than previously thought [and] damaging effects can extend over a much larger area… the farthest landslide from the 2011 Virginia earthquake was 245 km from the epicenter. This is by far the greatest landslide distance recorded from any other earthquake of similar magnitude… [This quake] occurred in an area 20 times larger than expected [and] landslide distances… are remarkable… [it's] the largest distance limit ever recorded…

End of world opening? Another mystery sinkhole measuring 100ft wide opens up in Siberia

YET another giant mystery sinkhole has appeared in Siberia close to one of the world's largest potassium salt mines.

(http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/80/590x/Giant-Siberian-Sinkhole-Solikamsk-Mine-538775.jpg)

The gaping chasm measures a whopping 100ft across and appeared after the nearby Solikamsk-2 mine was flooded.

It is not the first time a sinkhole has opened up in the region, similar huge holes have appeared in the Yamal – or 'end of the world'.

Locals have claimed to have seen missiles and even falling angels near the sinkholes.

Thousands of mine employees have since been told to keep away as geologists urgently look into why it happened.

One theory is that a 20-year-old earthquake weakened the structure of the bedrock surrounding the mine making it unstable.

Nobody living in the nearby town of Solikamsk was injured and experts have assured families that their homes are safe.

But the unexpected crater has caused mass panic in the town and many residents are reported to be rushing to sell their homes.

One local resident said: "People have not slept for three days, waiting for new holes."

Another added: "The homes were empty when it happened, which was lucky. The nearest houses where people are living are two kilometres away."

http://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/538775/Giant-Mystery-Sinkhole-Solikamsk-Siberia-Russia

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/check-massive-sinkhole-tearing-apart-225743850.html
Check Out The Massive Sinkhole Tearing Apart A Street In San Francisco
12/3/14

A massive 30-by-20 foot sinkhole tore apart a street in the Bay Area of San Francisco on Wednesday, according to a CBS local San Francisco affiliate.

The sinkhole, caused by heavy overnight rain, sits at the intersection of Lake Street and Sixth Avenue.

Jean Walsh, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, told CBS that sand had eroded around an underground water main pipe at the intersection. As a result, the pipe collapsed, causing rocks and sand to erode.

This isn't a first-time experience for Lake Street residents — in May 2013, an enormous 22-foot sinkhole opened up on Lake Street and 2nd Ave.

San Francisco residents and news outlets have been tweeting photos of the sinkhole all day:

Trending: Large sinkhole opens up in San Francisco neighborhood http://t.co/mlba6gyU1t pic.twitter.com/v8I6Xb9eTZ

— kcranews (@kcranews) December 3, 2014
Large sinkhole due to hvy rain RT@keithshea: San Francisco growing #sinkhole update at 6th & Lake @nbcbayarea @SFGate pic.twitter.com/Ugb73KHV9J

— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) December 3, 2014
Scary 10 foot sinkhole opened up after rain this morning in my neighborhood in San Francisco - no running water pic.twitter.com/D5om77aowY

— Suyash Joshi (@suyashcjoshi) December 3, 2014

http://news.yahoo.com/more-mysterious-craters-found-siberia-120514819.html
More Mysterious Craters Found in Siberia
2/27/15

Last summer, the discovery of several new giant craters in Siberia drew worldwide interest, launching wild speculation that meteorites, or even aliens, caused the gaping crevasses. And now, scientists have found even more of them.

In July 2014, reindeer herders discovered a 260-feet-wide (80 meters) crater in northern Russia's Yamal Peninsula. Later that month, two more craters were discovered in the Tazovsky district and Taymyr Peninsula (also spelled Taimyr), respectively.

Now, satellite images have revealed at least four more craters, and at least one is surrounded by as many as 20 mini craters, The Siberian Times reported. [See Photos of Siberia's Mysterious Craters]

"We know now of seven craters in the Arctic area," Vasily Bogoyavlensky, a scientist at the Moscow-based Oil and Gas Research Institute, told The Siberian Times. "Five are directly on the Yamal Peninsula, one in Yamal autonomous district, and one is on the north of the Krasnoyarsk region, near the Taimyr Peninsula."

Now, two of the craters have turned into lakes, satellite images reveal. A crater called B2, located 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) south of Bovanenkovo, a major gas field in the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous district, is now a large lake ringed by more than 20 smaller water-filled craters.

But Bogoyavlensky thinks there may be many more. He called for further investigation of the craters, out of safety concerns for the region. "We must research this phenomenon urgently, to prevent possible disasters," he said.

http://rt.com/news/248461-sinkhole-china-fire-hell/
Ring of fire: Mysterious blazing sinkhole shocks Chinese village
Published time: April 10, 2015 05:44

A blazing sinkhole in northwest China terrified locals, attracting tourists as well as researchers and prompting questions about its origin. The temperature on top of the burning crater was estimated to be 792 degrees Celsius (1,457 degrees Fahrenheit).

READ MORE: ‘Nature’s revenge’: Dead Sea surrounded by 3,000+ sinkholes growing at alarming rate

Due to the deadly heat, scientists have been unable to come close enough to the crater to measure how deep it really is.

https://youtu.be/OT2BIUnaSFI

Located in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, near Urumqi, in northwest China, the sinkhole is 0.9 meters (3 feet) wide.

READ MORE: Welcome to Hell! Turkmenistan eyes turning infernal gas pit into tourist attraction

It is hot enough to light up branches and other objects placed next to it. Various tourist videos show people setting things on fire.

Locals have dubbed it a “gateway to hell.” Many have told the Chinese media that the ground in the area has been hot for some time now.

There is no volcanic activity in the region, which led scientists from the Xinjiang Meitian Geological Bureau to believe that the sinkhole was created out of coal seam spontaneously combusting.

The area was reportedly used for mining in the 1970s, China Central TV cited a supervisor from Xinjiang Meitian Fire Engineering Bureau, Chen Long, as saying, the Daily Mail reported.

“Primitive mining and extinguishing techniques caused coal to burn deep under the ground,” Chen said. “Operators didn’t seal the mines properly after business discontinued and this leads the underground fire to burn towards the surface of the earth.”

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CCLuSLIWMAAyBpK.jpg)

Similar phenomena on a larger scale were spotted in Turkmenistan and America’s Pennsylvania.

The former, referred to as the “the door to hell,” is a gas crater that has been burning in a Turkmen desert for more than 40 years. The one in Pennsylvania is a coal mine fire that has been burning since May 1962.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32434494
Giant sinkhole threatens New Jersey homes
4/23/15

Residents were evacuated as a giant sinkhole threatened two New Jersey homes on the Delaware River.

Two of the residents at threat, Lynne and Chris O'Dell, spoke about their ordeal. Mr O'Dell said that "we are both still standing here by the grace of God".

http://www.krmg.com/news/news/local/large-sinkhole-opening-downtown-tulsa-street/nmg6K/
6/19/15
Large sinkhole opening up in downtown Tulsa street
A KRMG listener alerted us, and we contacted the street department

A sinkhole has developed in a busy downtown Tulsa street, but a citizen who spotted it was having a hard time bringing it to the city's attention.

So attorney Forrest Turney texted KRMG to explain the problem, and we called him back.

He said he was crossing 5th Street at Detroit Avenue when he spotted the hole.

"Right in the center of the street there, I looked down and there's this hole. It's about a foot across, and I looked down in there, I couldn't see the bottom of it. Then I noticed that the pavement all around it kind of sank in and caved in, so it's several feet in diameter around," he told our reporter.

"It looks like when it goes, it's going to eventually cave in with a bus or something driving over it," he said.

He told us he tried to call the city's Customer Service hotline, but was placed on hold and couldn't wait, because he had to get back to work.

So KRMG called the city street department to report the issue, and later headed downtown to see the situation for ourselves.

The sinkhole is developing on the west side of the intersection, right in the middle of 5th Street.

Crews by then had marked it off and were preparing the area for repair, which will reportedly begin Friday evening.

The two inside lanes of E. 5th Street are affected.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-33235387
Sinkhole opens on hole 13 of Kansas golf course
23 June 2015 Last updated at 10:24 BST

A giant sinkhole appeared on hole 13 of the Canyon Farms golf course in Lenexa, Kansas.

Parts of the course are constructed over an old limestone mine and the hole opened up on a part with inferior subsurface conditions, according to experts.

Heavy rain is thought to have increased the stress on the mine roof.

Sinkhole opens in Altamonte Springs condo complex

A 10-foot wide sinkhole that opened Sunday afternoon in an Altamonte Springs condo complex has forced six families to evacuate their homes, officials say.

The hole opened about 3:30 p.m. along the foundation of a building in the Oasis at Pearl Lake Condominiums complex off Alden Parkway, according to Tom Dalton, deputy building official with Altamonte Springs.

The complex is on the west side of the city, not far from the Walmart store at the intersection of State Road 434 and West Town Parkway.

Dalton said the hole opened in about 20 minutes and hasn't changed much since.

Nothing has fallen into it, and there hasn't been any obvious structural damage to the adjacent building, he said.

Six of the closest condo units in the 24-unit building have been evacuated as a precaution, he said, until a geotechnical engineer can assess the hole and determine any potential threat.

Most of the affected families are staying with relatives or in hotels, Dalton said.

"As soon as we hear back from the geotechnical engineer whether it's safe or not, we can determine if they can reoccupy," he said.

The complex's management will be building a fence around the back of the hole to prevent anything – or anyone – from falling in, Dalton said.

Officials will also be watching its size as the area is expecting rain this afternoon.

Annette Kelsey, 63, lives in a building across from the sinkhole and said she's concerned about the hole.

"It frightens me," she said. "…I live here and I know it's been raining a lot, but I don't know how they prevent this from happening."

Altamonte Springs police and Seminole County fire crews were watching the hole this afternoon.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-sinkhole-oasis-pearl-lake-condos-20150817-story.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Giant crack swallows 24 houses and a church in Peru: State of emergency declared

And suddenly a new crack opened up in the village of Tarabamba, Peru.
The state of emergency has been declared as the geological phenomenon swallowed 24 houses and destroyed a church, a school, a bridge, two irrigation canals and 60 hectares of crops.

The giant crack opened up in the Peruvian department of Ancash on September 13, 2015 and has never stop growing since then.

Here some images of this growing disaster:

http://strangesounds.org/2015/09/giant-crack-peru-state-of-emergency-declared.html

150-meter-wide sinkhole swallows 5 houses and threatens 500 others in Itogon, Benguet, Philippines

At least 78 families are left homeless after a giant 150-meter-wide sinkhole swallowed 5 houses in Itogon, Benguet, Philippines, one day after Typhoon Lando (Koppu) left the country.

The terrifying incident was captured on video by a resident. Around 500 houses are located in the community near the sinkhole in the old mining area of Benguet Mining Corporation.

(http://strangesounds.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/sinkhole-benguet-philippines.jpg)

The following video of houses being swallowed by the sinkhole was first posted on Facebook by Denria Fernandez:

https://youtu.be/0nGIhKOh3Mg

http://strangesounds.org/2015/10/150-meter-wide-sinkhole-swallows-5-houses-and-threatens-500-others-in-itogon-benguet-philippines.html

Mysterious sinkhole drains pond and swallows up 25 tons of fish overnight

http://strangesounds.org/2016/03/mysterious-sinkhole-swallows-up-pond-and-25-tons-fish-overnight.html


Giant 80-foot wide sinkhole forces evacuation of several homes in Tarpon Springs, Florida

http://strangesounds.org/2016/03/giant-sinkhole-tarpon-springs-florida-homes-evacuation-video.html

Huge crack running 100m opens up along Dorset’s Jurassic Coast

http://strangesounds.org/2016/04/huge-crack-dorset-jurassic-coast-picture-video.html


Huge 75 feet by 45 feet crater swallows basketball court at Huntington Park High School

http://strangesounds.org/2016/04/huge-crater-swallows-basketball-court-huntington-park-high-school-sinkhole-video.html


Giant sinkhole swallows front yard in Des Moines, Iowa

http://strangesounds.org/2016/04/giant-sinkhole-swallows-front-yard-des-moines-iowa-video.html


Mysterious 98ft deep sinkhole opens up in Gurbuki, Russia

http://strangesounds.org/2016/04/mysterious-98ft-deep-sinkhole-gurbuki-video-russia-pictures.html

Alert as two more rivers disappear overnight in sinkholes in Veracruz, Mexico

After the Atoyac River, two more rivers have been swallowed by large sinkholes in Veracruz, Mexico.

The level of the Tliapa and Tlacuapa rivers has already decreased by 50% due to two large craters ‘irrigating’ the water underground.

In March 2016, the Atoyac River disappeared overnight due to the formation of a giant crack in the ground.

Now, two other rivers, flowing through the exact same mountainous region of the eastern state of Veracruz, Mexico also began to dry up due to the formation of sinkholes.

In other words, three rivers have been swallowed by giant cracks in less than two months in the same area.

The flow of the Tliapa and Tlacuapa rivers has decreased by 50% because the water is lost underground through two huge holes in a cascade.

The channels form in the mountainous Chocamán and Calcahualco and come together in Rio Seco flowing in the central region of Veracruz.

The first cavity is located at the place known as the Stone Bridge. Another crack in the ground has opened up a kilometer below just after the confluence of the two streams.

The ground of Veracruz is too unstable.

http://strangesounds.org/2016/04/two-more-rivers-disappear-sinkholes-veracruz-mexico.html

Giant chunks of the Earth’s mantle are falling off and causing quakes across the southeastern US – and more are coming, warn researchers

(https://theextinctionprotocol.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/n-american-plate.png?w=640)

A new study found pieces of the mantle under this region have been periodically breaking off and sinking down into the Earth. This thins and weakens the remaining plate, making it more prone to slipping that causes earthquakes. The study authors conclude this process is ongoing and likely to produce more earthquakes in the future. ‘Our idea supports the view that this seismicity will continue due to unbalanced stresses in the plate,’ said Berk Biryol, a seismologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and lead author of the new study. ‘The [seismic] zones that are active will continue to be active for some time.’

The study was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Solid Earth, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. ‘Based on distinct variations in the geometry and thickness of the lithospheric mantle and foundered lithosphere, we propose that piecemeal delamination has occurred beneath the region throughout the Cenozoic, removing a significant amount of reworked/deformed mantle lithosphere,’ the team wrote.

Compared to earthquakes near plate boundaries, earthquakes in the middle of plates are not well understood and the hazards they pose are difficult to quantify. The new findings could help scientists better understand the dangers these earthquakes present. Today, the southeastern U.S. is more than 1,056 miles from the nearest edge of the North American Plate, which covers all of North America, Greenland and parts of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. But the region was built over the past billion years by periods of accretion, when new material is added to a plate, and rifting, when plates split apart.

(https://theextinctionprotocol.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/north-a-plate.png?w=640)

Researchers initially suspected ancient fault lines or pieces of old plates extending deep in the mantle following episodes of accretion and rifting could be responsible for earthquakes in the area. ‘This region has not been active for a long time,’ Biryol said. But the shapes and locations of the thick and thin regions suggested a different explanation: through past rifting and accretion, areas of the North American Plate have become more dense and were pulled downward into the mantle through gravity.

At certain times, the densest parts broke off from the plate and sank into the warm asthenosphere below. The asthenosphere, being lighter and more buoyant, surged in to fill the void created by the missing pieces of mantle, eventually cooling to become the thin, young rock in the images. The researchers concluded this process is likely what causes earthquakes in this otherwise stable region: when the pieces of the mantle break off, the plate above them becomes thinner and more prone to slip along ancient fault lines.

Typically, the thicker the plate, the stronger it is, and the less likely to produce earthquakes. According to Biryol, pieces of the mantle have most likely been breaking off from underneath the plate since at least 65 million years ago.  Because the researchers found fragments of hard rocks at shallow depths, this process is still ongoing and likely to continue into the future, potentially leading to more earthquakes in the region, he said. –Daily Mail

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3573759/Giant-chunks-Earth-s-mantle-FALLING-causing-quakes-southeastern-coming-warn-researchers.html

Rivers and lakes mysteriously disappearing increase around the world

http://strangesounds.org/2016/06/rivers-and-lakes-mysteriously-disappear-increase-around-the-world.html


Lake disappears overnight drained by a deep sinkhole in Russia

http://strangesounds.org/2016/06/lake-disappears-overnight-drained-by-deep-sinkhole-in-russia.html


Bayou Corne faces extinction due to the giant Louisiana sinkhole that keeps on growing

http://strangesounds.org/2016/06/bayou-corne-faces-extinction-louisiana-sinkhole-growing.html

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/contaminated-water-seeps-into-florida-aquifer-after-giant-sinkhole-opens-at-mosaic-fertilizer-plant/ar-BBwfxVn?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp
Contaminated water seeps into Florida aquifer after giant sinkhole opens at Mosaic fertilizer plant
9/17/16

A massive sinkhole opened at a Florida fertilizer plant and crews are urgently working to stop the flow of contaminated waste water into an aquifer.

The incident occurred at the Mosaic Company's New Wells plant in Mulberry, Florida, located about 45 minutes east of Tampa.

The sinkhole was first discovered on Aug. 27 when water loss was detected from one of Mosaic's phosphogypsum stacks. The water level decline was soon reported to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). Mosaic said the sinkhole is approximately 45 feet in diameter and reaches the Floridan aquifer. The depth of the sinkhole is unknown.

Mosaic is one of the world's leading producers of concentrated phosphate. Phosphogympsum is a byproduct of the fertilizer manufacturing process.

Officials told WPTV in West Palm Beach that over 215 million gallons of contaminated water has drained into the sinkhole. The company said extensive groundwater monitoring has found no offsite impacts thus far.


"While to date there is no evidence of offsite movement or threat to offsite groundwater supplies, in an abundance of caution, FDEP is coordinating with Mosaic to reach out to the nearest adjacent homeowners who may want testing for their drinking water wells," FDEP spokesperson Dee Ann Miller told AccuWeather.

While the process water is being successfully contained, groundwater monitoring will continue to ensure that there are no offsite or long-term effects, Miller added.

The process of water recovery is being done by pumping through onsite production wells.
 
The Floridan aquifer system is one of the most productive aquifers in the world and supplies 100,000 square miles across the Southeast, including portions of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and all of Florida, according to the United States Geological Survey.

For residents who want to have their drinking wells tested, Mosaic will place contact information on its website.

Mosaic said it is working closely with regulators and has been in daily contact with the FDEP. The plant remains in operation and continues to manufacture fertilizer.

A call to Mosaic seeking additional comment went unreturned.

Sinkholes are a type of karst landform and are common across all of Florida. Karst refers to the characteristic terrain produced by erosional processes associated with chemical weathering and dissolution of limestone, one of the most common carbonate rocks in Florida, according to the FDEP.

"The weather and geographic environment in the Florida Peninsula is conducive for sinkholes. The Tampa area averages between 6 and 8 inches of rain each month during the summer," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. Rainfall from June 1 up to the time of discovery of the sinkhole was approximately 24 inches, which is 122 percent of normal."

"While it is impossible to say precisely which rainfall was the trigger for the sinkhole, heavy rainfall events in the Tampa area and the Florida Peninsula in general are common during the summer," Sosnowski said. "This rainfall combined with the limestone bedrock is favorable for the formation of sinkholes."

Have questions, comments, or a story to share? Email Kevin Byrne at Kevin.Byrne@accuweather.com, follow him on Twitter at @Accu_Kevin. Follow us @breakingweather, or on Facebook

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/massive-texas-sink-hole-swallows-2-cars-killing-deputy/ar-AAlbubB?OCID=ansmsnnews11
Massive Texas Sink Hole Swallows 2 Cars, Killing Deputy
12/5/16

A massive sink hole in Texas swallowed two cars on Sunday night, injuring one person and killing a reserve deputy, officials said.

The Bexar County Sheriff's Office identified the dead officer on Monday as seven-year veteran Dora Linda (Solis) Nishihara.

An unidentified man in the second vehicle was rescued by a civilian and transported to a local hospital with minor injuries, San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said during a news conference.

The incident occurred on a two-lane road in a section of southwest San Antonio. In a statement, fire department spokesman Joe Arrington said crews responded to a water rescue shortly after 7:30 p.m.

Robert Puente, president of San Antonio Water System, told reporters Monday that the pipe was near two construction projects — one that was completed last year and one that was still underway. Puente said it was unclear what caused the pipe to rupture.

"The pit is full of sewer water," he added. "Until we find an opportunity to look inside will we know what happened."

Hood said Nishihara's vehicle was 90 percent submerged and he didn't know how long she had been in the water.

But, he added: "There was no way [she was] going to survive. The car was upside down."

http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/12/13/pacifica-concrete-pumped-into-sinkhole-on-eroded-cliff/
12/13/16
Pacifica: Concrete pumped into sinkhole on eroded cliff

PACIFICA – Workers pumped sand and concrete into a sinkhole that opened up over the weekend on the coast south of San Francisco, plugging most of it ahead of a storm expected this week.

Monday’s work came after the sinkhole emerged Saturday on a cliff in Pacifica. It closed access to a popular beach and caused concerns about recurring erosion due to heavy rains and high waves.

KNTV reports (http://bit.ly/2gydWma ) that large waves, known as king tides, may have caused it. Weather forecasters say the king tides are expected to peak Tuesday or Wednesday.

Officials don’t have an estimated time for the beach’s reopening.

A Pacifica apartment complex was demolished in March after erosion along the cliffs made the area unsafe. City leaders later declared a state of emergency.

Earth’s Crust In Turmoil – All-Time Record 500 Earthquakes Hit The Big Island As Rivers Of Lava Pour Out Of Volcanoes In Hawaii And Guatemala

What is causing our planet to shake so violently all of a sudden?  Rivers of lava have been pouring out of the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii for weeks, a massive eruption of Mount Merapi just a few days ago shot volcanic ash 38,000 feet into the air, and now rivers of lava are pouring out of Guatemala’s Fuego Volcano.  Overall, Volcano Discovery is reporting that a total of 34 volcanoes around the world are erupting right now.  So what is causing so much seismic activity all of a sudden, and is this a new trend that is going to continue?  If you have followed my work for an extended period of time, you already know that I tend to track these things very carefully.  Major changes appear to be happening to our world, but most people have not been paying much attention up until now.

For most Americans, what is going on around the rest of the globe is of little interest, but all of the shaking in Hawaii sure is starting to get a lot of attention from the mainstream media.  On Sunday, the Big Island was hit by a huge 5.5-magnitude earthquake…

    A 5.5-magnitude quake rattled the Big Island Sunday afternoon, US Geological Survey officials said.

    No tsunami is expected from the quake, which is among the strongest of recent quakes felt around the Big Island. The quake rumbled an area near Kilauea Volcano just before 4 p.m.

That was definitely a very large earthquake, but of much greater concern were all of the smaller earthquakes that happened on Sunday.  At least 500 quakes struck the Island in a 24 hour period, and that was a new all-time record…

    As of 11 a.m. Sunday, officials said 500 smaller earthquakes were recorded near the summit within the last day — it’s the most earthquakes recorded in a 24-hour period on Hawaii Island.

A lot of people that live in Hawaii did not believe that something like this would happen.  Rivers of lava are reaching areas that were not supposed to be reached, and Kilauea just keeps pouring out more.

According to one report, one of the rivers of lava is “as wide as three football fields”…

    National Guard troops, police and firefighters ushered the last group of evacuees from homes on the eastern tip of Hawaii’s Big Island early on Saturday, hours before lava from the Kilauea volcano cut off road access to the area, officials said.

    A stream of lava as wide as three football fields flowed over a highway near a junction at Kapoho, a seaside community of rebuilt after a destructive eruption of Kilauea in 1960.

And when one of the rivers of lava reached a freshwater lake, it boiled away all of the water inside of it…

    Also, lava destroyed a freshwater lake, boiling away all of the water in it, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported late Saturday, local time.

    “Lava entered Green Lake within Kapoho Crater, producing a large steam plume … A Hawaiian County Fire Department overflight reported that the lava filled the lake and apparently evaporated all the water,” the report said.

It would be difficult to overstate the massive destructive power of Kilauea.  Even with all of our advanced technology there is nothing that we can do to control the rivers of lava.  The best that we can do is to try to evacuate everyone and then get out of the way.

Fortunately, most of the lava flows are moving slowly enough that people can make a decision to evacuate.  Down in Guatemala, this new eruption of the Fuego volcano poured out lava so violently that it caught at least a few people before they could escape…

    At least six people were killed and another 20 injured on Sunday when Guatemala’s Fuego volcano erupted violently, spewing a stream of red hot lava and belching a thick plume of black smoke and ash that rained onto the capital and other regions.

    “It’s a river of lava that overflowed its banks and affected the Rodeo village. There are injured, burned and dead people,” Sergio Cabanas, the general secretary of Guatemala’s Conred disaster agency, said on radio.

One village near the base of the volcano may end up being completely destroyed by the flow of lava.  As the lava started flowing, rescue crews were going door to door trying to save residents…

    Steaming lava flowed down the streets of a village as emergency crews entered homes in search of trapped residents, a video on a different local media outlet showed.

    The eruption forced the Guatemala City’s La Aurora international airport to shut down its only runway due to the presence of volcanic ash and to guarantee passenger and aircraft safety, Guatemala’s civil aviation authority said in a Tweet.

I have been writing about the changes to our planet for the past eight years, and it appears that those changes are now accelerating.  The number of earthquakes around the globe continues to rise, and volcanoes are beginning to behave in some unusual ways.

So many major cities in North America, South America and Asia sit right along the “Ring of Fire”, and if the shaking of the crust of our planet continues to intensify, it is only a matter of time before major natural disasters begin to hit some of those cities.  If Mt. Fuji were to obliterate Tokyo, or if Mt. Rainier were to pulverize Seattle, or if the “big one” finally hit the west coast of the United States, the global financial system would melt down instantly.

We are far more vulnerable to natural disasters than most people realize, and it looks like the shaking of our planet is only going to intensify in the months and years ahead.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/earths-crust-in-turmoil-all-time-record-500-earthquakes-hit-the-big-island-as-rivers-of-lava-pour-out-of-volcanoes-in-hawaii-and-guatemala

Two French rivers disappear underground in large cracks and sinkholes: The Doubs River (Franche-Comté) and the Risle (Normandy)

The Doubs river flows normally in Franche-Comté, France. But since about a week or so, the river has totally dried up over a length of more than 1 km, between Pontarlier and Morteau, although precipitation has been abundant this winter and spring. The river has disappeared, and with it, the fauna and flora. Everything is dead. Two weeks ago, 13km of the Risle River in Normandy also disappeared underground in a large crater. According to geologists, this unprecedented event is due to large cracks and craters in the riverbed.

The cave of Remonot is located near the village of Morteau along the Doubs. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, this Chapel-Cave contains miraculous water and is visited each year on August 15, 2018, day of the Assumption. But during this year’s annual pilgrimage, the cave was dry! The first time ever!

Nearby, the Doubs river is also dry. No water, just pebbles and dead fish.

Residents explain they have never seen this before. The river has disappeared over more than 1 kilometer, and with it, the fauna and flora. Everything is dead. The president of a local fishing association reports having experienced such a situation during the severe drought of 1976. But now, it’s different… there was a lot of snow and water this winter. This situation is totally insane and ANOMALOUS!

Now, geologists say the river disappearance is due to large cracks in the karstic riverbed, which empty the river underground like a siphon. It is perhaps the important spring floods that washed away the sediment patches that blocked the holes and fissures.

After disappearing, the Doubs than re-enters the Loue, the other large river in the region. So the cracks kind of link the two rivers?!?

Two weeks ago, 13km of the Risle River also disappeared suddenly in Normandy, after a big sinkhole openened up in the riverbed:

But now, everybody is just wondering when will the rivers reappear again! Well, it may take longer than you think guys!

http://strangesounds.org/2018/08/french-rivers-disappear-underground-doubs-river-has-disappeared-between-pontarlier-and-morteau-1km-swallowed-up-by-large-cracks-in-the-riverbed.html

Over 80,000 Quakes Have Hit California Since July 4th, Aftershocks Headed 'Toward The Garlock Fault'


https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-07-29/over-80000-quakes-have-hit-california-july-4th-aftershocks-headed-toward-garlock

Why Are Hundreds Of Giant Sinkholes Suddenly Opening Up All Over The Planet?

Is something very unusual happening to our world?  Hundreds of giant sinkholes have been suddenly appearing all over the globe, and this is deeply alarming a lot of people.  For months, I have been coming across news stories about giant sinkholes during my daily research sessions, and at first I ignored them.  But lately there have been so many stories about giant sinkholes that I decided to start looking into this phenomenon.  Of course there have always been sinkholes, and so it isn’t a shock when one suddenly appears somewhere.  In many cases, they are caused by heavy rain, broken water pipes or earthquakes.  But what is different about 2021 is the fact that hundreds and hundreds of absolutely enormous sinkholes have been suddenly appearing all over the globe.  Is this just a “bad year”, or is this an indication that something truly strange is happening to the crust of our planet?

Let me start by talking about a giant sinkhole that just keeps growing in Mexico.  It is now 124 meters wide, and it has already swallowed a house and two dogs…

    Back in May, a farm in Mexico started developing a sinkhole that has since caused the evacuation of a family living in a nearby house, the collapse of that same house and a rescue operation for two dogs that, like the house, were swallowed up in the sinkhole.

    As of this past weekend, the sinkhole — on farmland in Santa Maria Zacatepec, located in Central Mexico in the state of Puebla — had grown to 124 meters wide, according to Ary News.

By itself, that sinkhole in Mexico would not be that big of a deal.

But this sort of a thing is happening all over the globe.  For example, a 17-year-old kid recently discovered a sinkhole that is 200 feet deep in his grandfather’s field that literally developed in just one night…

    The night before, he’d been walking in the area, and he said there was no indication of the geologic disturbance. But the next morning, he says he nearly fell into the hole. Had he done so, tragedy would have resulted as the sinkhole is 9 feet across and roughly 200 feet deep.

    It’s not an isolated occurrence in the Konya province. Several sinkholes have appeared there in recent years. Most notably, a monstrous 57,414 square-foot (10 miles!) chasm that revealed ancient human cave dwellings.

Of course most Americans couldn’t care less about what happens on the other side of the world, and so let me give you some examples from right here in the United States.

On Sunday, two vehicles fell into a large sinkhole that suddenly appeared in a key section of Manhattan…

    Two vehicles got stuck in a sinkhole after the part of the street they were parked on collapsed underneath them in Manhattan Sunday.

    It was discovered around 10:30 a.m. on Riverside Drive near its intersection with 97th Street on the Upper West Side.

Elsewhere in New York, a sinkhole that is 8 feet deep recently appeared right in the middle of a family’s lawn in Nassau County…

    A family in Nassau County says they’re getting the runaround from the city and their insurance company after an 8-foot deep sinkhole appeared in their driveway following a period of heavy rain.

    When David Moultrie came home from work on Saturday, he says he couldn’t believe what he saw in his Elmont driveway: a gaping hole right in his front lawn.

Down in Florida, hundreds and hundreds of sinkholes have been developing in recent months.

In fact, so many sinkholes have been developing in Florida that the state government maintains a regularly updated map that shows where all of them are.  You can view an example of this map right here.

That map definitely does not look “normal” to me.

But in today’s world, is anything “normal” anymore?

Across the Atlantic, scientists have been quite puzzled by what has been going on in Croatia.  Toward the end of 2020, a very large sinkhole suddenly swallowed a garden in a little town known as Meenani…

    Just before the new year in 2021, the earth in a quiet area of Croatia began to act oddly. A near-perfectly round hole sprang out of nowhere in a garden in Meenani, a hamlet 40 kilometers (24 miles) from Croatia’s capital city of Zagreb, measuring 30 meters (98 feet) broad and 15 meters (49 feet) deep.

Since that time, dozens of other very large sinkholes have started to appear in the region.

In fact, at this point there are “as many as 100 sinkholes in and around the two communities”…

    More and more of these huge holes appeared in Meenani and its adjacent village Borojevii during the next few weeks. According to the Croatian Geological Institute, at least 54 totally collapsed sinkholes of various sizes had been documented by the end of January.

    According to an AFP report from March, there may have been as many as 100 sinkholes in and around the two communities. Some of the holes appeared in remote areas, while many others appeared within yards from people’s homes. A few were discovered snuggled beneath homes, causing bricks to collapse and structure fractures to emerge.

But I am sure that this is nothing to be concerned about, right?

I’ll be perfectly honest with you.  I have no idea why all of these sinkholes are appearing, but I would like to find out.

Because there doesn’t seem to be anywhere on the globe that is completely immune from this phenomenon, and that includes the Holy City.  As I was doing research earlier today, I came across a story about a massive sinkhole that just opened up right in the heart of Jerusalem itself…

    Security footage shows three cars falling straight into the sinkhole. It is still unknown if there were people inside, though police later added that the likelihood of people getting stuck is low.

    Due to concerns over another collapse, the area has been declared a danger zone, and the building has been cordoned off. Additionally, traffic has been cleared out and blocked in the area around the hospital.

In recent months, I have written a lot about the bizarre changes that appear to be happening to our planet, but until now I have been ignoring all of the giant sinkholes that have been popping up.

From now on, this is a story that I want to focus on a lot more, because I think that these sinkholes tie into the larger picture somehow.

I don’t have all of the answers at the moment, but I am going to keep digging.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/why-are-hundreds-of-giant-sinkholes-suddenly-opening-up-all-over-the-planet/