Sinkholes

[dreamaker]

Just watched on PBS TV today on Nova called, Sinkholes Buried Alive, made my butt pucker. Did not realize how common it is, and it can happen anywhere, and they showed that poor guy that got swallowed up by a sinkhole. Kind of scary, no were to run!! Really makes you think. Check out Nova on PBS or you can watch it online, if interested.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/sinkholes.html

[Grumpy]

Yeh and what makes it really scary, that was a little over a mile from my house. Problem in our area comes with cold weather, strawberry farmers pump a lot of water to keep the plants from freezing, ground water drops and causes sink holes to appear.

[Firefighter]

Several years ago we had a firetruck nearly swallowed up when the street caved in. The firetruck was moving slowly on a street that was used to enter a hospital emergency room when the hole suddenly opened below the rear tires. The truck fell backwards into the cavern. The crew of three scrambled out of the truck uninjured. Half of the truck was in the hole at about a 45 degree angle. The hole looked about 30 feet deep approx. 15x15 foot square. The water company was digging about 100 feet away looking for a broke water line. Our truck found the location. We were worried as gas lines were exposed in the hole and we did not know if the hole was going to open up more, or under us! One thing about the fire business, you never know what your gonna see.  Firefighter

[dreamaker]

On that video, the part that really gets me is at 00:16, that gave me the creeps. Just walking along and then your gone, WOW!!

[gordonv]

#@$%!^ 

Not available in Canada!

Oh! Wait! Look on PVR, Nova, and there it is, Sinkholes - buried alive.

Now, I just have to crack a beer, and start the hour long episode.

[dreamaker]

Just watched on PBS TV today on Nova called, Sinkholes Buried Alive, made my butt pucker. Did not realize how common it is, and it can happen anywhere, and they showed that poor guy that got swallowed up by a sinkhole. Kind of scary, no were to run!! Really makes you think. Check out Nova on PBS or you can watch it online, if interested.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/sinkholes.html

You can also go online to watch it !

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

In my part of Indiana our land is crisscrossed with old forgotten mining tunnels. Many of the woods we mushroom hunted when I was a kid were covered with old sinkholes and the mushrooms would grow in them. You had to stay away from the bottom, sometimes there would still be a hole from 6" to a couple feet in diameter in the bottom. When you threw something into them you would always hear water splash. The main highway between Brazil and Terre Haute has fallen in twice during my lifetime as the mine shaft beneath it collapsed. Was never more than 8' deep but that could ruin your night if you found it first.

The local foundry I used to work at had a pond on the property of maybe 2 acres. It was too shallow for fish but it was a great place to set lines for snapping turtles. One day we noticed the pond was dry and we could see a collapsed mine tunnel in the bottom going under the opposite bank. Before the DNR came to fill the tunnel in one of the other employees walked into the tunnel and under the hill a ways. He said it opened up into several other tunnels and he stopped there. I wasn't willing to go in and verify his story. 

About a mile from my house maybe 30 years ago the local 4-H grounds collapsed into the biggest local sinkhole I've seen. It was maybe 35 yards across. Kids were riding horses across it just a few weeks before it collapsed. These don't open up around here as often as they did when I was a kid but it still happens. The highway mentioned above fell in for 2nd time in the same place no more than 4 years ago.

[Grumpy]

Had one in Winter Park, back in 1981 that swallowed a entire car dealership. Several new Cars went down the hole.

[old2soon]

Corvette museum in Kentucky went into a sinkhole if the rekememberer be wurkin!  After watching the vid makes ya wonder if any place is actually safe?  When I lived in East Texas locals would lose cows when old mine shafts would collapse. When we went hunting you ad to watch where you put yer clod hoppers very carefully. RIDE SAFE.

[John Schmidt]

Had one in Winter Park, back in 1981 that swallowed a entire car dealership. Several new Cars went down the hole.

That was a block south of our office bldg., and there's another sinkhole halfway between this one and the old office bldg.  We were beginning to wonder if it was going to disappear with us in it one day. After it filled with water and made a nice big pond, I was flying with a buddy in his chopper and the fool went down and hovered over the center of it. Didn't know I could hold a pucker that long.    It also took a couple houses as well. A local joke was how many Porsches were lost in the sinkhole? Answer: Three....one from the dealership and Mrs. XXX front and back porsch. Obviously a play on spelling.

[dreamaker]

Makes me wonder!! Isn't Wisconsin's statement, the Land of a 1000 lakes!! how many are sink holes, I live in Michigan and we have a ton of lakes too. I guess we have known sink holes around Alpena.
I remember one time we were up north around Mio, we went down this one road  with high banks and I remarked about the odd looking shrubbery off the sides. The driver said that was tops of huge trees I was looking at, they were in deep valleys. Today thinking back I would have to say they were old sink holes.

[old2soon]

10000 lakes-Minnesota!  RIDE SAFE.

[dreamaker]

I stand corrected!! That is worst, 10000 lakes how many are made from sink holes.

[Detn8er]

About 5 years ago we had a young blaster die after a shot. The shot went fine and then when he went to check out the area a sink hole opened up and he was gone.
His body was never recovered.
Very sad day as his Father also an employee with our company was there and was witness to the event.   

[dreamaker]

That Sucks!!!  Sorry for Dad!!