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Massive sinkhole closes road in San Francisco Bay Area

Elyce Kirchner and Cheryl Hurd
NBC News - Bay Area
Sun, 15 Jan 2017 12:26 UTC
Alhambra Valley Road sinkhole
© NBC
A massive sinkhole caused the collapse and closure of Alhambra Valley Road, near Pinole and Richmond, on Wednesday, according to the Contra Costa County Department of Public Works.

The road was closed indefinitely after the pavement and earth below it crumbled and washed away, leaving a large gap on a popular roadway in the East Bay.

"This route to DVC, for me, cuts a 22-mile commute to 13 miles, so that's crazy," said Andony Husary of Pinole.

Drivers were forced onto alternate routes as crews scrambled to repair the road.

"The Pinole Creek, it runs right through there," Pinole resident Jeremy Gomez said. "There's probably a 6 to 8-foot drainage pipe under there. Obviously it went out. It's crazy, real deep. I don't know how they're going to fix it."

County officials also closed several other roads Wednesday because of mudslides and flooding. Another sinkhole opened in Orinda after heavy rains washed away part of a culvert near Miner and Camino Pablo roads.

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Giant sinkhole swallows two cars in Pennsylvania


ABC News - Philadelphia
Sun, 08 Jan 2017 10:54 UTC
Fishtown sinkhole swallows two cars
© Joe and Diane Sergi
Two vehicles were swallowed up by a giant sinkhole caused by a water main break in Fishtown.

Officials say the 6-inch main broke around 9:30 a.m. Sunday in the 2300 block of Boston Street. Neighbors say they woke up to water rushing into their basements, low presser and some spilling out of pipe covers on the sidewalks.

The break caused a large section of street to collapse, and two SUVs that were parked along the road went into the hole. "I just heard a really like a really loud bang. It startled me, woke me up from my sleep." "It sounded like a bunch of snow falling off a roof almost."

But neighbors say this isn't a shock. "About two months ago or so, there was a water main break, with all the mud like it is now. I had a feeling it might happen again this winter."
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Vacant house collapses into sinkhole in Martins Ferry, Ohio

Kendal Forward
WTOV9
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 14:59 UTC
House collapsed into sinkhole
© WTOVThe city of Martins Ferry is working to repair another sinkhole after a house collapsed into one last weekend.
The city of Martins Ferry is working to repair another sinkhole after a house collapsed into one last weekend.

Earlier, a sinkhole emerged on 8th Street, and while the city has been busy working on acquiring funding to fix that hole, an empty house collapsed on another lot just before Christmas.

Harry Miller lives next to the house that sunk in during the weekend. During the past 6 years, he's watched the ground below it slowly fall away.

"Oh it's been unreal," he said. "You never know when your house is going to fall in. I don't know what ours is doing "

The house is vacant after the city acquired it in a settlement nearly 2 years ago. Repairs were initially attempted when the problem first started, but nothing seemed to work. Now the city must fill the gaps.

"Under emergency situation, we have to tear that house down," Martins Ferry Mayor Robert Krajnyak said. "After the house is gone, repairs will be made to the culvert that's there."

"They have to fix it someway, otherwise it's going to keep washing out," Miller said.

Krajnyak says despite neighbor's concerns, he doesn't' think the hole poses a risk to surrounding homes.

They're in the process of securing funding to fix it. However, there won't be any buildings on the lot in the foreseeable future. He says the lot will be sold as a side lot.

They're moving along quickly in the grant process, and Krajnyak says he's feeling pretty positive about it.

Comment: Massive 35-yard long sinkhole opens in Martins Ferry, Ohio

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Massive sinkhole opens up in Fraser, Michigan


ABC News
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 16:04 UTC
Sinkhole damage
© Mike Campbell/WWJ Newsradio 950
A massive sinkhole in a residential neighborhood north of Detroit forced families to make emergency evacuations over the Christmas weekend.

Residents of more than a dozen homes in Fraser, Michigan, evacuated after the sinkhole was discovered Saturday under one home, according to city officials.

Fraser resident Sue Albu said she woke up Christmas Eve to the sound of splintering brick around her home.

"Loud noises, cracking throughout the evening," Albu told local ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV of the sound. "They got progressively greater."

Alba's neighbor, Derek Loewen, and his father ran over to help, grabbing whatever they could of Alba's belongings to take out of the house.

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Huge sinkhole opens up on road in Phillipsburg, New Jersey

Steve Novak
Lehigh Valley Live
Fri, 23 Dec 2016 11:37 UTC
A workers on Dec. 23, 2016, climbs down into to a large sinkhole that opened days earlier on Lopatcong Township's Wordsworth Lane, the same street where a snow plow was almost swallowed by a sinkhole in 2015
© Steve NovakA workers on Dec. 23, 2016, climbs down into to a large sinkhole that opened days earlier on Lopatcong Township's Wordsworth Lane, the same street where a snow plow was almost swallowed by a sinkhole in 2015
Santa has more than stockings to fill on Wordsworth Lane.

A huge sinkhole opened this week on the Lopatcong Township road -- nearly in the same spot where the earth almost swallowed a snow plow in 2015.

"I keep having visions of some 'Far Side' cartoon," 63-year-old Dave Thomas quipped Friday evening as workers tended to the maw at the end of his driveway. "We'll either be living on top of a tiny spike of land ... or in the middle of a lake."

Mayor Tom McKay estimated the hole was 20 feet wide and eight to 10 feet deep when it opened Thursday morning, fortunately before any school buses went down the road.

Residents said the water company, Aqua New Jersey, was fixing a leak in the water main on Wednesday that lead to the bigger problem.
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Water Authority: 50-foot sinkhole collapsing neighborhood road in Pennsylvania 'naturally occurring'

Mallory Lane
We Are Central PA
Mon, 19 Dec 2016 18:30 UTC
Brittany Drive sinkhole in PA
© WJAC

A massive sinkhole opened up in a State College neighborhood, leaving dozens of residents without water. Monday, crews remained on scene to clean the mess and repair the damage.

The State College Borough Water Authority said the hole was 50 feet wide and 25 feet deep. It formed on Brittany Drive in the Park Forest neighborhood. The authority doesn't know exactly what caused the sinkhole to open because everything underground was completely washed away when they arrived on scene Sunday.

Crews will repair four pipes underground - the sewer line, sewer laterals, water main and water service line.

The Water Authority said water was restored to the 21 homes affected by the incident around 3:00 p.m. on Monday. Those homes will remain under a boil water notice until Wednesday.

Neighbors who were home when the sinkhole formed said they didn't hear anything, but did see water flowing down the street in that area earlier in the day.

"We saw a whole bunch of brown, muddy water flowing down the street and when we came up, it's right across the street from us, we saw it just flowing out of a lump on the ground," Nevin King, who lives nearby, said.

Comment: On December 20th, the local water authority reported that the sinkhole was naturally occurring and not a result of leaking water pipes:
The water authority said after an investigation that their tank levels and pumping times were normal. That means there is no evidence of a leak causing a sinkhole.
See: Sinkholes: The groundbreaking truth

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Crumbling coastline: Dangerous sinkhole opens on cliff in Pacifica, California

Marianne Favro and Stephen Ellison
NBC News - Bay Area
Mon, 12 Dec 2016 17:31 UTC
Pacifica beach sinkhole
© KRON4
A hazardous sinkhole emerged on a cliff in Pacifica Saturday, closing access to a popular beach and causing concerns about recurring erosion due to heavy rains and high waves.

A barricade and sign closing off beach access was erected Saturday. It's an issue residents of the area have grown accustomed to over the years.

"It's a constant battle," neighbor Gary Tiggs said. "If you look at the sidewalk over there, it's very narrow. It's just a shadow of what it was years ago."

The latest sinkhole may have been caused by some of the biggest waves of the year, known as King Tides. Such tides are expected to peak Tuesday or Wednesday, according to weather reports.

"I'm always ready to jump back because it can just fall at a moment's notice," Tiggs said about the cliff area. "And just because there's a sidewalk there, it doesn't mean it won't fall."

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30-foot wide, 20-foot deep sinkhole at condo complex causes evacuation near Florida's Disney World

Melodi Smith
Click Orlando
Sat, 10 Dec 2016 19:27 UTC
Bahama Bay II sinkhole
A sinkhole opened Friday at a gated condo complex near Walt Disney World, prompting the evacuation of 16 units and more than 30 residents at Bahama Bay II, Osceola County sheriff's deputies said.

It formed outside one of the buildings near the lake. The hole, estimated at 30 feet wide and 20 feet deep, opened at 9121 Calypso Court in Kissimmee. Deputies said officials determined that the structure is not safe and ordered the evacuations.


"I woke up early this morning and had one of the neighbors knock on the door, telling us that we had a sinkhole in the backyard. When I looked out the sliding door it was actually about a good ten feet wide, five feet deep," said Danny, who only wanted to give his first name.

He said he was able to grab some personal belonging before he had to leave, now he's not sure where he's going to stay. "We're waiting to see what they're going to do about giving us an open unit. If not, we'll probably have to go to a hotel. I don't know if they're going to be paying or what's going to happen," he said.

Bahama Bay II sinkhole
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Rare sinkhole swallows two cars in San Antonio, one dead

Chris Shadrock
ksat.com
Sun, 04 Dec 2016 12:01 UTC
Emergency crews are on the scene of a massive sink hole on the Southwest Side Sunday night.
© SBG San AntonioEmergency crews are on the scene of a massive sink hole on the Southwest Side Sunday night.
Multiple San Antonio firefighters engaged in a high water rescue operation in the 8400 block of Quintana Road on San Antonio's Southwest Side after multiple cars got trapped in a sinkhole.

The rescue occurred near the intersection with Leon Creek. Initial calls for help came in just after 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

At least two vehicles were submerged by water -- including one that was flipped onto its roof.

Emergency responders believe the sinkhole could be 10 feet deep.

A man in his 60s was rescued by bystanders, both the man and one of the bystanders were taken to a hospital for treatment. SAFD is unsure if there are people in the other submerged vehicle, but said they fear the worse. Crews will have to wait until Monday morning to see if there are any victims in the second car.



Comment: According to Dr. Yongli Gao, a geological sciences professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, sinkholes in that area of the city are rare:
According to Dr. Gao, sink holes are nothing new to the area but are usually seen on the city's north side closer to the Edwards Aquifer, which is why he's surprised to see one so far south.

When asked if a sinkhole like the one seen Sunday could happen anywhere throughout San Antonio, Dr. Gao said, "Yeah it's possible, but I would say the probability is pretty low."

Dr. Gao said one major reason sinkholes are rare in the southern part of San Antonio is because the bed rock is usually pretty far down beneath the ground surface.
NBC news also reports that a woman was killed in the incident.

See also: Sinkholes: The groundbreaking truth

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Man rescued from sinkhole after it opens up and swallows him in Toronto

Andrej Ivanov
Toronto Star
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 18:47 UTC
A man raking leaves at his North York home suffered minor injuries after a 2-meter sinkhole opened beneath him, and swallowed him up to the neck.
© Victor BiroA man raking leaves at his North York home suffered minor injuries after a 2-meter sinkhole opened beneath him, and swallowed him up to the neck.
A man had to be rescued after he fell into a sinkhole that opened up on Tamworth Rd. in Willowdale. The man suffered minor injuries from the fall.

Toronto Fire received a call at 4 p.m. saying a man was trapped in a hole up to his shoulders. The sinkhole is next to a drainage hole, Toronto Police Services reported.

According to witnesses, the sinkhole opened under the man's feet as he was walking down the street.

Toronto fire had to set up a perimeter around the hole to distribute the weight of their equipment. They then set up: a ladder over the opening, a tripod, a harness and a winch, to get the man out.
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