Sinkholes
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Bizarro Earth

Sinkhole closes Colorado Highway 67 north of Cripple Creek

Erin Udell
The Denver Post
Sat, 11 Aug 2012 22:27 UTC
sinkhole
© Fox31
A sinkhole has closed lanes to north- and southbound traffic on Colorado 67 north of Cripple Creek as crews work to determine its severity.

According to the Colorado Department of Transportation, crews closed the area between mile markers 53 and 56 around 10:30 a.m. Saturday and are diverting traffic to local county roads.

Drivers also are encouraged to use a detour in place at Teller County Road 82.

The hole was originally called in at 2 feet wide, but, according to a report by The (Colorado Springs) Gazette, when crews arrived it had grown to about 5 feet wide and 20 feet deep.
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Sherlock

Louisiana Probes Cause of Massive Bayou Sinkhole

Melissa Gray
CNN
Fri, 10 Aug 2012 08:22 UTC

Louisiana officials are investigating whether an underground salt cavern may be responsible for a large sinkhole that has swallowed 100-foot-tall cypress trees and prompted evacuations in a southern Louisiana bayou.

The state's Department of Natural Resources ordered Texas Brine Company, which mines the cavern, to drill a well into the cavern to see whether it caused the dark gray slurry-filled hole nearby.

Measurements taken Monday showed the sinkhole measures 324 feet in diameter and is 50 feet deep, but in one corner it goes down 422 feet, said John Boudreaux, director of the Office of Homeland Security in Assumption Parish, about 30 miles south of Baton Rouge.

Assumption Parish Police said Thursday the sinkhole has since grown another 10 to 20 feet.
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Arrow Down

Giant sinkholes in Brooklyn worry residents

Ellyn Marks
Pix 11
Thu, 09 Aug 2012 06:24 UTC

It's not the sky that's falling, but the earth opening up in a couple of spots in Bay Ridge, that has some of its residents rattled.

Mimi Carroll lives near the giant sinkhole on 79th Street that came close to swallowing a car last Wednesday.

"Thank God there wasn't a car going down the street at the time," she said. "So then it's not just damage to the street, and property, it's people."

But the mother of all sinkholes in the neighborhood was the cave-in at 92nd Street and Third Avenue at the end of June. Workers have yet to reach the damaged portion of the sewer main 70 feet below street level. It's expected to be weeks before the work is completed and the street reopened.

"We have to deal with keeping the hole structurally sound. We have to deal with buildings around us being shaken, and we have a lot of concerns from gas lines to electric," said construction worker George Aragona.
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Bizarro Earth

Sudden deep sinkhole shocks Tennessee town

Stacye Sullivan
The Tennessean
Tue, 31 Jul 2012 16:58 UTC
sinkhole
© Stacye Sullivan/The Fairview ObserverPhillip Rykwalder with Cave Now checks the rope of Sara Goning as she ascends into the sinkhole on Cumberland Drive.
On the afternoon of July 19, Fairview resident Trish Parker wanted to get her yard cut before the predicted rain later that evening generated another grass growth spurt. Imagine the shock when Trish and her husband Dean walked outside the next morning to discover what was generated in their side yard was a super-sized sinkhole.

"My wife just cut the grass in that very spot yesterday," explained Dean, as he looked down into the ten-foot-wide hole.

The sinkhole is located along the property line between the Parker's property and neighbors Michael and Jennifer King. It sits approximately 75 feet from the Parker's home and 105 feet from the center line of Cumberland Drive.

The Parkers began making calls and Williamson County Emergency Management arrived on the scene to do an initial assessment, placing caution tape around the sink hole so that nearby neighborhood children would be warned of the danger.

Family friend and local resident Steven Brison came by on Sunday afternoon and rappelled down into the nine-foot wide hole for a closer look.
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Bizarro Earth

Louisiana's Bayou Corne Evacuated: Swamp Gas Turns into Monster Sinkhole


WBRZ
Fri, 03 Aug 2012 10:27 UTC

Napoleonville - Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency Friday in Assumption Parish after officials ordered an immediate evacuation of the Bayou Corne area because a slurry area appeared to be expanding.

"The fear of the unknown prompted the evacuation order," said John Boudreaux, director of the parish's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. "The fear of it possibly compromising either the nearby pipelines or cavern storage areas, that could cause a risk to the community."

Boudreaux said about 150 homes are affected by the order. He was unsure how long it would remain in effect. The governor's emergency proclamation extends through Sept. 2 unless terminated earlier.

Boudreaux initially estimated the area was about 200 feet by 200 feet. He said it's on private land near the Texas Brine Co. LLC facility. Police Jury President Marty Triche said that in speaking with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources and the Governor's Office, he was advised there was a risk that the slurry area could grow to a size of about 2,000 feet across.
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Attention

Man swallowed by massive sinkhole as Typhoon Saola pounds Taiwan, reporter nearly taken by second sinkhole minutes later

Rheana Murray
New York Daily News
Thu, 02 Aug 2012 06:18 UTC
Image
Emergency workers at the scene of the enormous sinkhole.
There appears to have been no warning before the ground opened up beneath the man's feet. At least five people have died in the storm so far and two are missing.

Unbelievable footage captures the moment a man was swallowed by a sinkhole that suddenly opened up on a Taiwan street.

The unidentified man was reportedly walking in Taipei Wednesday morning when the road beneath him suddenly collapsed, pulling him to his death.

CNN reports the incident occurred near the Temple of Sansha.

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Attention

Gigantic Sinkhole Opens Up In Brooklyn And Nearly Swallows Parked Car


CBS News
Wed, 01 Aug 2012 12:48 UTC
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© @gazawia via TwitterBay Ridge, Brooklyn sinkhole: Does anyone out there still think the rate at which these things are appearing is 'normal'?
A large sinkhole opened up Wednesday afternoon in Brooklyn, creating a close call for one family that had just parked their car in its vicinity.

The 20-foot-deep by 20-foot-wide hole, which formed at around 6 p.m., is located between 4th and 5th avenues in Bay Ridge. Crews stabilized the situation Wednesday night, but they may be working to fill in the massive hole for days, officials said.

Maddie Flood said she and her mother, Annette, had just parked their car shortly before it was partially swallowed by the hole, leaving it leaning "like the Titanic."

"We're so blessed. If we were five minutes later or anything, we could have been in the hole," she told 1010 WINS' Aaron Gerberg.
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Arrow Down

"The ground just opened up on us": Two North Carolina men pulled out of ground unconscious after their car is swallowed by sudden sinkhole

Elise Esasky
News 14 Carolina
Sun, 29 Jul 2012 15:58 UTC

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© ansonrecord.comThe planet is literally opening up...
Wadesboro, North Carolina - A scary ordeal in Wadesboro occurred early Sunday morning.

Officials said flooding caused extensive damage throughout the area, including a large sinkhole that two men driving out of a Mcdonald's parking lot fell in to.

Jeffrey Miles said he never saw it coming, an early morning coffee run suddenly turned in to a trip to the hospital.

"We were driving up to the light and the ground just opened up on us. We fell in the sinkhole," said Miles.

Officials said a gorge behind Highway 74 near the Mcdonalds, gave way during a heavy rain storm around 2:00 am Sunday, causing the sinkhole.

Miles and his friend both said they feel lucky to be alive.

"All of the sudden we just heard this loud noise behind us and after that we just blanked out. I don't know for how long but when we woke up the Mcdonalds workers were pulling us out of the car," said Jamar Richardson.

Richardson and Miles were taken to the hospital, but quickly released.

The Wadesboro Police Chief said the damage doesn't stop there. A brick wall in front of Smith's Funeral Home came tumbling down as well. Chief Janie Schutz said she even has a mess of her own to worry about.
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Arrow Down

Sinkhole swallows road, threatens canal in Albion, New York

Tom Rivers
The Daily News, Orleans County
Tue, 31 Jul 2012 15:51 UTC
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© Tom Rivers/Daily NewsConstruction crews work to fill in a 30-foot-wide sinkhole on Albion Eagle Harbor Road and a path along the Erie Canal. Crews worked late Monday night to fill the hole and stabilize the site so the canal wouldn't flood two neighboring state prisons.
A massive sinkhole swept away a 30-foot-wide chunk of an Albion road and a path along the Erie Canal on Monday night, forcing crews to work late into the night to fill the opening.

The sinkhole nearly collapsed the embankment that held back the Erie Canal. Had the wall been washed out, officials feared the two state prisons next to the road would have been flooded.

The Canal Corporation activated the lock system, bringing down gates in Albion near Gaines Basin Road and in Holley, a 10-mile section. That is still a lot of water that may need to be drained to determine what caused the sinkhole, which was reported at about 9:30 p.m. Monday.
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Arrow Down

Sinkhole in downtown Baltimore widens, repairs still pending


abc2news.com
Tue, 31 Jul 2012 15:47 UTC
Image
© WMAR
Public Works officials are still working to fix the sinkhole on Monument Street that widened over the weekend.

As a result of the expansion, sanitation collection lines servicing units between 2326 and 2336 Monument Street, even side only, may have bee compromised. As a precaution, water has been shut off to those units.

The Department of Public Works is considering permitting foot traffic on the sidewalk, and business operation between Patterson Park Avenue and Bradford Avenue.

Before repairs to the sinkhole can occur, it first must be stabilized.
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