Earth ChangesS


Hardhat

Sinkhole swallows chunk of northeast Houston street

Christine Dobbyn
ABC News
Tue, 30 Jul 2013 00:00 UTC
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© KHOUA 15 foot wide sinkhole opened up in east Houston on Tuesday afternoon. The sinkhole is located at 3600 Market Street, and it was big enough for a car to fall in.
Crews are working quickly to fill a large sinkhole in northeast Houston.

The sinkhole swallowed part of Market Street at Capron, not far from I-10.

It's looking to be a long night ahead in the Fifth Ward as crews work to make these repairs. They've got a large area taped off.

The city says the sinkhole was caused by a water main break.

Neighbors say they started calling Tuesday morning. Some noticed the dip several days ago and grew concerned a car would lose control. The final straw came Tuesday afternoon when a METRO bus hit the hole and it caved in.

Comment: The city says the sinkhole was caused by a water main break, but these so-called water main breaks have been quite a frequent occurrence around the world lately...

Sinkholes - A Sign of the Times?

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Cloud Lightning

Philadelphia shatters record for the heaviest rain in a day

Kristina Pydynowski
Accuweather.com
Mon, 29 Jul 2013 04:12 UTC
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This radar image was taken at 4:15 p.m. EDT Sunday.
Torrents of rain over the Philadelphia metro area late on Sunday afternoon turned roads into lakes, submerged cars and made travel very difficult.

A whopping 8.02 inches of rain fell at the Philadelphia International Airport, with 7.35 inches falling between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. EDT.

Runoff from the heavy rain flooded ramps between Interstate 95 and Broad Street in Philadelphia. Flooding also ensued on Interstate 76 in nearby Gloucester City, N.J.

With the added rain, numerous rainfall records were broken in Philadelphia.

-The 8.02 inches of rain on Sunday shattered the previous record for the day of 3.28 inches set in July 1969.

-The 8.02 inches also established a new record for the most rain on any calendar day, breaking the previous record of 6.63 inches on Sept. 16, 1999 during Tropical Storm Floyd.

-The 13.00 inches through July 28th makes this July the wettest on record and the third wettest month overall, behind 19.31 inches in August 2011 and 13.07 inches in September 1999.
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Cloud Grey

Spectacular 'noctilucent clouds' (comet dust clouds) appear over Northern Europe


SpaceWeather
Wed, 31 Jul 2013 19:11 UTC
Sky watchers across northern Europe are reporting a vivid display of noctilucent clouds on July 31st. Nické Eriksson sends this sunset image from Karlstad, Sweden:
Noctilucent Clouds
© Nické Eriksson
"It reminded me of a magic carpet," says Eriksson.

Normally the coming of August signals a downturn in sightings of noctilucent clouds (NLCs). The northern noctilucent daisy is brightest in June and July. This year, however, might be different. So far, 2013 has been one of the best years ever for these strange clouds at the edge of space. Sightings could continue long after than usual end of NLC season.

Observing tips: Look west 30 to 60 minutes after sunset when the sun has dipped 6o to 16o below the horizon. If you see luminous blue-white tendrils spreading across the sky, you've probably spotted a noctilucent cloud.
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Alarm Clock

Baboon in Netherlands Zoo 'Completely Lethargic'


Telegraf.nl
Wed, 31 Jul 2013 12:29 UTC
A group of baboons in a zoo in Emmen, the Netherlands has become totally lethargic all of a sudden complains Wijbren Landman of the zoo. The whole group just sits there, staring at a certain spot on a roof. Animals nearby are okay. This behavior has been observed a few times before, in 1994, 1997 and 2007, when the strange state of the monkeys lasted a week.
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Alarm Clock

A water pipe breaks and triggers a mini-tsunami in Rio de Janeiro


strangesounds.org
Wed, 31 Jul 2013 15:27 UTC
This video features a water pipe that broke in the western area of ​​Rio de Janeiro (Campo Grande), causing a mini tsunami that destroyed homes and killed a 3 year old child.
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According to TV Globo news , a cascade of water gushing from the broken pipe destructed cars, garbage and some precarious houses like a mini tsunami. A 3 year old girl died and seven firefighters were wounded. The water and the power were turned off in the neighborhood.


Hopefully, it's not sewage water! Can you imagine the smell?
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Arrow Down

Terrible year for white storks in Czech Republic as cold weather kills a generation


wildlifeextra.com
Wed, 31 Jul 2013 15:08 UTC
Very few storks fledged in 2013 - If any

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© Valter JacintoA terrible year for breeding white storks in the Czech Republic.
White storks suffered their worst breeding year on record in the Czech Republic, as the cold weather put paid to nearly a whole generation. Almost all of the chicks that did hatch didn't survive the severe weather which prevailed in Bohemia just as the birds were nesting.

Czech conservationists monitor the population of white storks at 285 sites across 25 districts of the Czech Republic annually. In 15 of the monitored districts there were 80 percent fewer chicks than last year and in 10 districts no chicks survived at all! To make matters even worse, it is very unlikely that the few chicks that have survived this far are unlikely to fledge successfully. The final assessment of this calamitous situation with nesting will be carried out in the autumn.
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Arrow Down

Another sinkhole opens in Philadelphia, exposes green fluorescent water under city!


MSN.com
Wed, 31 Jul 2013 08:43 UTC
Image
© MSN
You probably don't think about what's under the street much, but you might start to now. A sinkhole opened up in the middle of a Philadelphia street, and it was apparently full of this green ... stuff. What does this mean? Are secret tunnels below the streets pumping radioactive goo across the country for some nefarious purpose? No. As the Redditor who took this photo learned, this is actually a fluorescent dye. Cities add it to water in sinkholes to see where they go, and hopefully fix the problem that causes it. Still, nearby pizza restaurants should be on the lookout for a pack of giant talking turtles. Just in case. [Source]
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Arrow Down

Massive sinkhole swallows entire intersection in Philadelphia!


NBC News
Wed, 31 Jul 2013 08:26 UTC

Four families have not been able to return to their homes due to a giant sink hole caused by a water main break in South Philadelphia. It's at the middle of the intersection at 21st and Bainbridge. Crews say the sink hole is 15-feet deep.

"It's enormous," said flooding victim Marisa Block. "I heard sink hole and I was thinking something like three or four feet, nothing that big. It's the entire intersection!"

The 96-year-old, 48-inch transmission main broke at 9 p.m Sunday, according to a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia Water Department.

Crews worked through the night, where water flowed up to three feet high in some spots, as you can see in this NBC10 viewer photo.

On Monday, there was a gas leak at the same location, but authorities say it was quickly fixed.

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© NBC
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Colosseum

Another sinkhole opens in Philadelphia, swallows car!

Katherine Scott
ABC News
Wed, 31 Jul 2013 07:44 UTC

A sinkhole swallowed up the front end of a car on a street in Philadelphia's Hunting Park section early Tuesday morning.

The nose of the Pontiac Bonneville was sinking down below the street - its rear raised in the air. That was the sight neighbors were met with early this morning on the 3600 block of Marvine Street in Hunting Park.

Car owner Fran Leftenant woke up to an officer knocking on her door.

"I thought I had two missing tires, but it wasn't the case. My car was sinking," said Leftenant. "Right now I'm just sick."

She and other residents watched as the hole got deeper, and the lean on the car greater. A tow truck was called.
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Comment: Remember this from 4 years ago?

Or what about this one from last month?

Or this one from last week!

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Arrow Down

Seven years and growing: Christian County, Missouri sinkhole devours more earth


KY3 News
Wed, 31 Jul 2013 05:46 UTC
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© Jess Heugel / News-Leader
The sinkhole formed at about 10 feet. It's now an estimated to be about 50 feet wide and 50 feet deep.

A big sinkhole in Christian County is getting even bigger.

It's in a field in the bent-water subdivision on the north side of Nixa.

The sinkhole formed at about 10 feet. It's now an estimated to be about 50 feet wide and 50 feet deep.

Since it's on private property, it's up to the developer to decide what to do about it.

The person who lives close to the sinkhole is bringing someone in to determine its potential impact.

Comment: It's interesting to note that this sinkhole formed during a drought. When they appear now during and after storms, geologists and others are quick to claim they are caused by excess groundwater eroding the soil layers beneath the surface, but check out this quote from a geologist from when this sinkhole first appeared in 2006:
"It's weird, it's weird," he [a local resident] said of the appearance of a sinkhole where there had been no sign of the geological formations. "I think the drought had something to do with it."

That's a possibility, said Missouri State University assistant professor of geology Doug Gouzie.

"I don't know of any evidence, but it wouldn't surprise me it played a role," he said.
The fact of the matter is that they don't know how these things form, but that doesn't stop them trying to explain away this new and bizarre phenomenon as if it was 'normal'.

It's not.

It's another sign of the times.

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