From the first few frames of this video, you can tell that something has gone wrong with the car being filmed, though it takes our intrepid videographer a little while to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. What happened seems to be a sinkhole opening in a Brazilian road and swallowing an automobile whole like an enraged mud elemental. For those of you who can spare 3 full minutes of your Friday afternoon to watch this hatchback be claimed by the proud and ingenious mole men who dwell just beneath out feet, we fully recommend watching the entire thing, for the sake of context and narrative. If you're busy folk like us, though, feel free to skip to about 1:30 to see the real fun begin as the hole widens and a full-sized automobile does it's best impression of a Hot Wheels car being flushed down the toilet by a toddler. Bye bye, car!
Sinkholes
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 sinkhole occur.
Southbound Prince St. SE blocked at Grape Ave. SE
A driver in the early-morning hours had an unexpected detour when they drove into a sinkhole in the South Valley.
This is the second such incident in the area this year.
The driver wasn't injured, but crews had to tow the car out of the hole that took up the entire southbound lane of Prince Street SE at Grape Avenue SE.
Expect traffic delays in the area until crews can assess the situation.
It's unclear how much of the line will have to be replaced.
A driver in the early-morning hours had an unexpected detour when they drove into a sinkhole in the South Valley.
This is the second such incident in the area this year.
The driver wasn't injured, but crews had to tow the car out of the hole that took up the entire southbound lane of Prince Street SE at Grape Avenue SE.
Expect traffic delays in the area until crews can assess the situation.
It's unclear how much of the line will have to be replaced.
© Brian Johnson
City officials said the second hole opened about 11 p.m. Monday night, resulting in the loss of water, gas and sewer service to the neighborhood.
"Due to the prolonged loss of these utilities, the city's Department of Public Works is recommending the immediate evacuation of affected residents at addresses 2102 to 2163 N.4th Street," a city news release states.
Twenty-nine homes are affected. The evacuation is not an order, just a recommendation by the city.
© Matthew Kemeny/The Patriot-News
A Harrisburg trash truck get stuck in a sinkhole in uptown this morning.
A Harrisburg trash truck get stuck in a sinkhole in uptown this morning.
Officials shut off water to that section of the street as they prepared to tow the truck from the gaping hole around 11 a.m.
Officials did not have an idea when the road will reopen.
© China Daily
© fox5sandiego.com
North County Transit District spokeswoman Deborah Castillo said one of their buses was stuck at Los Arbolitos Boulevard and El Camino Real around 8 a.m. Wednesday.
The driver, who was the only person on the bus at the time of the incident, was uninjured.
An Oceanside Water Department dispatcher said the sinkhole was caused by a water main break.
Around 400 residents were without water as crews worked. Water was expected to be turned back by 10 p.m. Wednesday, water officials said.
Traffic was being diverted away from those streets.
© CBS
A storm caused a 20-foot sinkhole to form along Mountain View Drive in Lafayette on December 2, 2012.
A storm caused a 20-foot sinkhole to form along Mountain View Drive in Lafayette on December 2, 2012.
In one instance, a giant sinkhole swallowed two lanes of a street in a residential neighborhood in Lafayette Sunday.
High water levels and a clogged storm drain in Lafayette Creek destroyed a portion of Mountain View Drive Sunday, creating a sinkhole where the road once was, Lafayette City Manager Steven Falk said.
Times-Reporter, Nov 28, 2012:
A section of land the length of four football fields collapsed Wednesday afternoon leaving a gaping hole [...]
The collapse left about 70 to 80 feet of a 4-inch natural gas line exposed, and hanging [...]
[...] an Ohio Department of Natural Resources geologist was at the scene to assist in determining the cause of the collapse.
© WOIO
Sink hole at SR 516 in Dover
Comment: Update - video footage of the enormous sinkhole in Ohio:
A man got out of his car just before it fell into a huge sinkhole in the middle of a La Center road early Saturday.
Just before 2 a.m., 47-year-old James Sandvik of La Center was driving down Northeast Charity Road when his car got stuck on the edge of a ravine that was caused by a wash out.
Sandvik got out of the car with minor injuries just before it plunged over the edge. The car then washed more than 1000 feet away as water continued to pour through a broken pipe caused by a plugged colvert, said Sgt. Alex Schoening with the Clark County Sheriff's Office.
The hole is at the 31000 block of NE Charity road, which connects to Lockwood Creek Road and runs south to Battle Ground. Traffic is detoured three miles and the road is expected to be closed for a long time.
Authorities urge drivers to avoid the area if possible.
Comment: Here's a video of the other sinkhole in Santa Cruz (more of a landslide really):