Sinkholes
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Attention

US, Florida: Sinkhole Eats Local Business

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© unknownThe roof of Main Street Hair & Beauty Supply has caved in on Friday, July 22, 2011, in Leesburg.
The roof of a Leesburg business building has collapsed, weeks after a sinkhole gulped part of it.

As the roof of the Main Street Hair and Beauty Supply of Saaraa Corner Store crumpled, more debris, including a Dumpster, trees, boxes and beauty products, was pushed into the sinkhole.

However, city officials are adamant that the sinkhole is not growing, and attribute the collapse instead to the building's wooden trusses that gave way.

"There's no indication that it's growing," said Robert Sargent, a spokesman for the city of Leesburg, adding that soil around the edges of the hole also has fallen in.

The discovery of the sinkhole came on the early morning of June 27, when Rafeek Mohamid, owner of the property, received a call from his alarm company that something was wrong.

Sun

SOTT Focus: Connecting the Dots: Cosmic Changes, Planetary Instability and Extreme Weather

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© NASA / SDOThe Solar Dynamics Observatory's view of the coronal mass ejection of June 7, 2011.
With Earth Changes now clearly happening and time pressing, the editors of Sott.net are faced with the urgency of catching up with an avalanche of significant news items and trying to make sense of things! Recent weather events have been unprecedented: both spring and early summer have been bizarre across the globe, to say the least.

You name the weather or geological type of phenomenon; someone in the world had it: volcanoes, earthquakes, torrential rain, floods, sinkholes, tornadoes, droughts, wildfires ... even summertime snow! Let's review them all as best as we can, starting from the top: the cosmic factor.

Solar Activity
© Mike BormanImage Taken: Jun 4, 2011
Location: Evansville, Indiana, USA
Cosmic Changes Are Under Way

Changes on planet Earth comprise such a wide variety of phenomena, from extreme weather anomalies to volcanoes and earthquakes, so perhaps it's a good idea to zoom back and see if we can make sense of any changes in the cosmic climate that may be affecting us. Yes, we are aware that this approach goes against the sanctioned narrative claiming that these changes are caused by carbon-burning human beings living in an isolated bubble that can only grow warmer. But the pieces of the puzzle on the table point to a different, larger picture.

A huge central piece is our sun, which is not surprising, since this ongoing explosion in space is what brings order to our corner of the universe and to life to Earth. For the last couple of years the sun was expected to go into high activity in accordance with its usual 11-year sunspot cycle. But scientists were left scratching their heads as our local star remained quiet. Now it's giving off such a display of flares that it has NASA scientists going 'ooh and ahh'.

Attention

US, Louisiana: Huge Sinkhole Swallows Metairie Road

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Crews Hustle To Fix Busy Street

An open joint in a sewer pipe is to blame for the formation of a huge sinkhole in Jefferson Parish.

The opening in the ground formed on Friday, when the dirt beneath the asphalt shifted and left a void beneath the surface of the street near the intersection of Clearview Parkway and West Napoleon.

Crews spent the afternoon filling in the giant hole and traffic was expected to return to normal by Friday evening.

Attention

US, Tennessee: Crew stabilizing sinkhole that swallowed creek in Sevier County, building sluice

A crew is working to ensure that water continues to flow in a Sevier County creek where a sinkhole opened, draining a three-mile section of the stream.

The plan is to plug the holes that first formed last year in Middle Creek under the Collier Drive bridge.

The bridge had to be stabilized and now work is under way to ensure the stream continues to flow above ground. A dam was built and pumps are channeling the water through temporary pipes along the bank while the holes are filled and a concrete sluice is built over them.

Rain on Wednesday raised the water level in the stream and forced a temporary halt to the work, according to The Mountain Press.

Source: The Associated Press

Arrow Down

Canada, Yellowknife: Sinkhole Growing at Giant Mine Site


Federal officials in Yellowknife are worried that a growing sinkhole at the former Giant Mine could result in water seeping into the site's underground arsenic chambers.

The sinkhole first appeared in May and is currently six square metres in size. It is located between Baker Creek and an open pit that is connected to the underground section of the mine.

As well, the depression is close to four underground chambers in which thousands of tonnes of arsenic trioxide - a toxic byproduct of gold production - are being stored.

Officials with the federal Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development are concerned the sinkhole could make it easier for water from Baker Creek to seep into the arsenic chambers, should the creek flood again next spring.

Stop

US, Iowa: Sinkhole Results in Street Closing

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© Cindy ChristensenSouth 26th St. between 6th and 7th Avenues has been blocked off due to a large sink hole spanning the width of the street. The sink measured 20 feet wide and 10 feet deep on Thursday and was caused by the high water table causing the sewer to collapse.
Officials say a large sinkhole in Council Bluffs started as a dip in the road and just kept growing.

South 26th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues is now barricaded because of a giant sinkhole in the street caused by high water tables, a city spokesman said.

Cost to repair the sinkhole, which had grown to 50 feet long by 50 feet wide by late Friday, is $216,000, said Don Gross.

When water levels get higher than normal, underground pipes become surrounded by water, he said. If there are cracks or openings in the pipe, the water and soil material flowing in it will eventually create a "cavity" in the pipe and eventually the street surface will collapse.

It's hoped the repairs can begin next week, Gross said. MFT Construction has received the bid, he added.

Bizarro Earth

US: Massive Lake County Sinkhole Continues To Swallow Building


Leesburg, Florida. -- A large sinkhole has been swallowing downtown Leesburg and many neighbors said they are concerned.

The sinkhole at Main and East streets has already gobbled up one business, and the damage is getting worse.

City leaders said the mess is in the hands of the landowner, and city officials said since it's only been a couple of weeks, they're not ready to issue any ultimatums.

Douglass Anderson has a good view of the sinkhole because it's just 50 paces from his Leesburg home.

"No. I don't think we've got to pull out. I think the thing is going that way," said Anderson, pointing away from his house.

The sinkhole opened at the corner of East and Main on June 27. "There's no indication that this hole has been growing," said Robert Sargent, Leesburg city spokesman.

Sargent said even though half the roof of Main Street Hair and Beauty Supply caved in, the width and depth of the pit remains the same. The sinkhole is 60 feet across and 20 feet down.

Arrow Down

US: Sinkhole opens up in road, Charlotte, North Carolina

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© DAVIE HINSHAW/charlotteobserver.comA DOT crew is on scene of a sinkhole that developed Friday morning on Sharon Road.
Police closed a south Charlotte intersection Friday morning after a sinkhole developed.

The sinkhole was on Sharon Road at the Wendover Road intersection. Motorists began reporting the problem shortly before 7 a.m., and authorities closed the intersection a short time later.

Inbound Sharon Road is open, but the outbound lanes are closed. In addition, there is no access to Sharon Road from Wendover Road.

Typically, these holes are caused by broken underground water lines that need repair. But it is unclear if that is the problem this time. State highway personnel arrived at the scene about 8:30 a.m.

Motorists should consider using Sharon Lane and Providence Road as alternate routes.

Bizarro Earth

Guatemalan woman finds huge sinkhole under bed

sinkhole
© Johan Ordonez/AFP/Getty ImagesA man inspects the sinkhole in Guatemala City.
Sinkhole, 12m deep and 80cm in diameter, forms at Guatemala City home of 65-year-old Inocenta Hernandez

You may sometimes wish the ground would swallow you up, but for some the danger of disappearing down a deep hole is all too real.

The people of Guatemala City are increasingly unable to trust what's beneath their feet because of treacherous sinkholes.

The latest person to get a shock was 65-year-old Inocenta Hernandez. "When we heard the loud boom we thought a gas canister from a neighbouring home had exploded, or there had been a crash on the street.

"We rushed out to look and saw nothing. A gentleman told me that the noise came from my house, and we searched until we found it under my bed."

Comment: What was once an occasional incident has become a alarmingly regular occurrence - we're getting reports of sinkholes every other day now!

July 17: Tennessee, US: Sinkhole beside Spring Hill's new high school stirs speculation

July 14: Utah, US: Girl dies, father hurt in crash caused by sinkhole

July 14: Florida, US: Tarpon Springs homeowners wonder if homes will be swallowed by sinkhole

July 12: US: Lenoir, North Carolina sinkhole evidence of a possible wider problem

July 7: South Carolina, US: Sinkhole Closes Stephens County Boat Ramp

June 27: Australia: Enormous sinkhole swallows south-east Queensland Rainbow beach

A collection of sinkhole images from around the world


Bizarro Earth

Best of the Web: Gigantic Crack Opens Up In Mexico

Mexico Crack
© Before It's News
The crack appeared on 13 July in Santa Maria Huejoculco in Chalco, State Mexico, land has now reached 500 meters long and authorities have not taken preventive measures, warned James Espinoza Hilario, responsible for Social planning on the Sierra Nevada project of the Autonomous Metropolitan University.

In addition, after survey work was detected in Santa Maria Huejoculco yet another gap of about four km which reached La Candelaria Tlapala, in the community of Miraflores, in Chalco, explained Professor Martín Espinosa.

These failures are part of a family of cracks that exist in the region and threaten to spread across the entire east area of the Valley of Mexico.

This event began back 2009 in a small area of this region but since it has grown and is eating up everything around it .

Comment: On top of all the sinkholes opening up, this crack in the ground in Mexico joins a list of fissures opening up all over the world:

June 30: US: St. Clair Crack Remains a Mystery

March 18: Everett, Washington: Land Crack Appears, Neighborhood is Sinking

March 7: Pakistan: Giant Fissure / Crack Opens in the Ground in Seagi Gulistan

February 25: Large Crack Opens in the Earth in Southern Peru

January 7: Large crack in the ground appears in the Michigan Upper Peninsula

October 6 2010: Mysterious crack still begs answers