Earth Changes
* 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.
Landslide blocks a Road in Jalisco, Mexico on April 5th, 2014.

A brush fire burns Sunday, April 6, 2014, along Batsto Road in Wharton State Forest in southern New Jersey. The smell of smoke was reported as far north as New York City.
The fire has burned more than 1,500 acres, or about 2 square miles, along Batsto Road in Wharton State Forest. The smoke can be seen for miles.
NBC 10 in Philadelphia reports that crews dropped water from airplanes and used backfires to contain the blaze, which broke out Sunday. The cause is under investigation.
The fire, which was reported at 12:48 p.m, occurred near Annapolis Rocks, a popular resting spot along the Appalachian Trail that features a camping ground.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control and by 3 p.m., they were "mopping up hot spots," according to a Washington County 911 supervisor.
Six fire companies, Boonsboro's ambulance company and Maryland State Department of Natural Resources' forest rangers responded to the fire, a 911 supervisor said. The fire companies were from Mount Aetna; Boonsboro; Smithsburg; Funkstown; Wolfsville, Md.; and Myersville, Md.

People search through the debris on the beach near the Solomon Islands capital of Honiara
Devastating flash floods in the Solomon Islands have killed at least 19 people, while 40 are still missing and an estimated 49,000 people are homeless.
Entire riverside communities and bridges were washed away when the Matanikau river in Honiara broke its banks on Thursday. The government declared a state of emergency.
Rivers in the north-west, central and north of the island also flooded, destroying homes and displacing communities.There are more than 5,500 people in three of the most populous of the 13 evacuation shelters in Honiara, where aid groups report dengue fever is threatening to spread.
Brittney Lewis and her sister say the growing sinkhole is just steps away from their Flint home near the intersection of Dupont and Bagley Streets.
"it's real big now, scary," Brittney said.
It was just a small divot less than a week ago...and now measures over six feet at its widest point. It's no wonder concerns are growing as fast as the sinkhole itself.
"I'm nervous about the kids running back and forth across the street and they might fall down. That's why I tell my little sister, just stay up here by the driveway and the cars," said Brittney.
The school busses. They mostly come down right there. It makes me nervous," said Sterlisha Alexander, who lives across the street from the sinkhole.
While some residents are worried, others have met the situation with a sense of humor and trust Flint will fix it.
"Michigan has brought a little bit of Florida to us and we have our own sinkhole. Flint's trying, but it's going to take some time," said Terry Schlosser who lives in the neighborhood of the sinkhole.
From the towering palms at Pensacola International Airport to backyard cabbage palms, the legacy of this winter's unprecedented freeze in early January left hundreds and hundreds of damaged or dead palm trees.
The harsh cold, which saw temperatures in the teen for an extended period, took a toll on plant life in the area, but palm trees in particular have suffered, leaving folks wondering whether they will come back if pruned or whether they should be removed.
"A lot of the palm trees that you see in the area are not recommended for the zone that we're in," said Carol Lord, an environmental horticultural technician at Escambia County Extension. "So they may not come back."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a Hardiness Zone Map that provides information that helps gardeners determine what plants will grow in their area.

Gerald Joubert bags oil-soaked sand on the Texas City Dike as crews start the clean-up after the Galveston Bay oil spill.
Just as it seemed the clean-up efforts from last months oil spill under control, there's new evidence washing ashore that proves to the public just how much nearly 168,000 gallons of oil affects wildlife.
The U.S. Coast Guard confirms that 30 dead dolphins have been found in the Galveston area since the wreck, 48 total in March. That's well above average, and very well above last years recovery of only 15.
A high number of dead dolphins is typical during what is called the stranding season from January through March, but so far, 2 have been confirmed to have oil on their bodies and two more are being tested for possible oil exposure.
Though it's not proven that oil is the definite cause of the increase in stranding yet, it's definitely a concern, and until the murky waters are all cleared up, we won't know exactly how much our wildlife will be impacted.
The sinkhole is about four feet in diameter and about one foot deep.
The sinkhole has closed a portion of Southern Hills Drive in the Southwest portion of the city.
The closure is between the 4200 and 4300 blocks, or from where Southern Hills Drive intersects Van Winkle and Griffin roads. Police say they are advising drivers to take alternate routes.
Alaska Airlines spokesman Bobbie Egan says Alaska Airlines flight 2589, operated by Horizon Air, was on its way to Oakland, Calif., from Portland, Ore., when it was struck by lightning.
Egan says that planes are designed to withstand lightning strikes and that no one on board was harmed.
The flight landed at Oakland International Airport just before 1 p.m. Monday and was expected to be back in service by Tuesday.











Comment: There was another recent wildfire in Rockingham County, North Carolina... despite there being snow on the ground until last week! This one near Asheville, North Carolina was blamed on lightning, but can that spark a fire in wet, cool conditions?