Strange "Sinkhole" in Tropical storm - 115 Dead

[Nienna]

Gee, that "loud roar" bit is creepy. Maybe the Earth does make conscious sounds?

I was thinking that the loud roar was the bottom of the hole going before the top finally caved in. But I wouldn't put it past "Mother Earth" to make conscious sounds, especially when you consider how much is being done to her.

 

[Bluestar]

Wonder if the Gulf oil spill has anything to do with the sink holes? Displaced substance of that enormity for me would logically indicate that something has to fill in the empty space. Even if it manifests many hundreds of miles away. Just thinking aloud.

 

[Keit]

Not exactly a sink hole, but still a hole.

Mysterious hole has appeared in Saltney
_http://www.chesterfirst.co.uk/news/91456/mysterious-hole-has-appeared-in-saltney.aspx

A MYSTERIOUS hole has appeared on a children’s playing field.

The 13-feet wide and six-inch deep slump appeared on football pitches at Sandy Lane in Saltney on Tuesday evening.

Ward member Klaus Armstrong-Braun discovered while out walking and thinks it could be linked to a disused mineshaft.

He told the Leader: “I just spotted this big round hole and I couldn’t believe it. At first I thought it was a crop circle.

“Mines run underground throughout Flintshire and the very dry weather would cause the earth to shrink.

“There is a summer playscheme and up to 100 kids play on the field every day. They were very lucky that it didn’t collapse while they were on it.”

It is not the first time a disused mineshaft has opened up in Flintshire this year.
In June the Leader reported on a mineshaft that collapsed just yards from a primary school.

The former lead mine on land at Halkyn Mountain, Rhesycae, was 30 feet wide and 15 feet deep. Experts believed the dry weather had caused the earth to shrink.

And, back in February, grandmother Jan Hinks from Mancot fell 25 feet down a hole on her driveway.

Flintshire Council are investigating.

 

[RyanX]

I don't know if this story fits with the rest of the data here. I haven't seen any pictures of the sinkhole. The story itself is extremely heart breaking though...

_http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38533071/ns/us_news-life?GT1=43001

Six teens drown trying to save each other from Red River sinkhole

SHREVEPORT, La. — Six teenagers from at least two families drowned in the Red River in northwest Louisiana after they stepped off a ledge from shallow water into a 18-foot sinkhole Monday, fire officials said.

Shreveport Fire Chief Brian Crawford told the Shreveport Times that the victims, aged 13 to 18, had drowned while trying to save each other. Only one, a 14-year-old, was rescued.

Emergency crews on both sides of the river responded to reports of a single person drowning before 6:30 p.m., just south of the area in Charles and Marie Hamel Memorial Park. It took fire officials about 10 minutes to locate the sinkhole, and that's when they learned there were multiple victims.

Dive teams from Shreveport and Bossier fire departments, as well as members of the Caddo Parish sheriff's office, searched the water about an hour before recovering the first body. By 10:30 p.m., all the bodies were recovered.

None could swim

Marilyn Robinson, a friend of the families, watched helplessly as the children, five boys and a girl, went under, the Times reported.

"None of us could swim," the 38-year-old told the newspaper. "They were yelling 'help me, help me. Somebody please help me.' It was nothing I could do but watch them drown one by one."

With tears rolling down her face, Louise Edwards, another witness, added: "It was hard watching them and not being able to help. Some people tried to jump in, but they were already gone. It's like a nightmare. Lord please help us, please."

Robinson said a group of family and friends, including about 20 children, had been out at a sandbar to barbecue and enjoy the water. She said they were familiar with the area, the Times reported.

Crawford was clearly affected by the tragedy as he announced the deaths.

"Unfortunately, I'm afraid, and it's with a heavy heart, to report that we have pulled so far (six) bodies from the river," he said, according to the Times. "I can honestly say that in my 26 years of service I've never seen anything of this magnitude. And I hope I never see it again.

"It's truly catastrophic and I can only imagine the effect it has on the families," he added.

Unfamiliar area

The teens had started playing in the area that they knew.

"One child ventured off into an area that he was unfamiliar with, and some of the other children had gone off with him," Crawford told the Times. "They went into the vicinity of an 18-foot sinkhole."

"And once one started toppling into that sinkhole grabbing a hold of another, trying to save another, eventually seven were pulled into the hole," he added.

Assistant fire chief Fred Sanders said it was believed the dead included three brothers from one family and a sister and two brothers from another.

The families were in recreational area of the Red River, Sanders said. The park is a popular picnic and fishing area and some people go wading.

"It's devastating," Sanders said. "To my knowledge the city has never experienced an incident of this magnitude. Unfortunately, neither the children nor the adults could swim."

The Times reported that only one life jacket was available.

Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover, members of the City Council and Caddo Schools Superintendent Dr. Gerald Dawkins arrived at the scene with rescue crews.

Area ministers and city officials helped console grief-stricken relatives and friends as they gathered at the park and waited to receive updates from authorities.

The area where the teens drowned is not a public beach, and trenches had actually been dug to make it more difficult for people to enter the water, Glover said.

"The river's condition today, it has a little bit of current," said Donna Jackson with Caddo sheriff's marine unit Monday.

"It's like any other waterway or lake. If you don't know what's out there, the dangers like the drop off the jetty, this sort of thing can happen," she added. "We've been very fortunate in the last few years; everything has gone well. Unfortunately, this happened today."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

[Gaby]

This one was reported 3 days ago in Honduras, also related to bad weather:

It is about 8-12 meters deep.

 

[Laura]

I don't know if this story fits with the rest of the data here. I haven't seen any pictures of the sinkhole. The story itself is extremely heart breaking though...

_http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38533071/ns/us_news-life?GT1=43001

<snip>

None could swim

Marilyn Robinson, a friend of the families, watched helplessly as the children, five boys and a girl, went under, the Times reported.

"None of us could swim," the 38-year-old told the newspaper. "They were yelling 'help me, help me. Somebody please help me.' It was nothing I could do but watch them drown one by one."

With tears rolling down her face, Louise Edwards, another witness, added: "It was hard watching them and not being able to help. Some people tried to jump in, but they were already gone. It's like a nightmare. Lord please help us, please."

Why anybody, in this day and age, cannot swim is beyond me. Why anybody who would go to a swimming area - even if it is shallow - and not be able to swim is beyond me. I can't grok that. Every child should be taught to swim very early on. It is simple good sense to think that someday, somewhere, somehow, a person might need to know how to swim.

 

[Laura]

Here's a couple more interesting items that could relate to this "opening up" of things on the planet:

Elevated Radiation Confirmed for Bulgarian Beach
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/213732-Elevated-Radiation-Confirmed-for-Bulgarian-Beach

"The reason for the pollution is deemed to be radioactive waste from the nearby mine, containing copper and uranium. "

and: Methane found in northeastern Pennsylvania wells
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/213705-Methane-found-in-northeastern-Pennsylvania-wells

"The DEP discovered the problem after a lid blew off one of the water wells last week. Officials got word of the incident Aug. 4, and the DEP served Chesapeake with a notice of violation.

Right now, the official cause is unknown, but one possible lead is a nearby natural gas drilling well operated by Chesapeake Energy. "

 

[RyanX]

Why anybody, in this day and age, cannot swim is beyond me. Why anybody who would go to a swimming area - even if it is shallow - and not be able to swim is beyond me. I can't grok that. Every child should be taught to swim very early on. It is simple good sense to think that someday, somewhere, somehow, a person might need to know how to swim.

I agree. Swimming lessons are a worthwhile investment for all families, especially considering the tragedy above! I'm always amazed to learn about adults who can't swim or have never tried to swim in their lives. I guess I kind of took it for granted that I learned to swim at a pretty early age.

 

[treesparrow]

Massive coral die-off


More indications of local underwater volcanic activity? Seems much more likely to be the reason for the extremely localised die-off of the coral than any results of 'man made global warming'. Also in a region of the world well known for volcanic activity - at least on land.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Massive coral die-off seen in 93-degree waters

Areas off Indonesia is 7 degrees warmer than usual


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38741347/ns/us_news-environment/

 

[Laura]

Here's another one:
Louisiana Oil Well Blowout Prompts Evacuations, Could Take Weeks to Contain
http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/23159

An out-of-control oil well in Louisiana’s Assumption Parish could continue gushing for six weeks, following a blowout last week. Last Wednesday’s blowout resulted in the evacuation of residents from six nearby homes and shut down a two-mile stretch of Louisiana highway 70, between Louisiana highways 1 and 996, according to a report on DailyComet.com.

The well is operated by Mantle Oil and Gas LLC of Friendswood, Texas. The blowout occurred last Wednesday, around 3:30 a.m. local time. No one was injured. The exploratory well, west of Paincourtville and located in a large sugar-cane tract, was in the process of being finished when the blowout occurred.

Rainy weather has delayed operations to cap the well since last week, DailyComet.com said. The highway will remain closed and evacuated residents will not be allowed to return until after the well is capped.

Crews tried twice to ignite the wellhead to stop the 200-foot geyser created by the accident, but that effort has been abandoned due to winds. Crews are now preparing to begin drilling a relief well that would allow crews to inject cement through a pipe to seal off the oil. According to DailyComet.com, the relief well could take six weeks to complete. It is hoped that drilling will start this week, but that is dependant on the weather.

According to a report on 2theadvocate.com, the people and environment of Assumption Parish are already beginning to suffer because of the blowout. Sugar cane in the vicinity of the blowout is reportedly turning yellow.

Some residents have reported irritated eyes and noses, headaches and dizziness resulting from the well’s emissions, and 19 people have been treated for minor health issues related to the blowout, according to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. Residents continue to report an oily stench around the parish, and many have said their symptoms subside when they are away from the odor.

The owner of the No Problem Raceway Park, which sits inside the evacuation area, told DailyComet.com that the blowout is already taking a toll on his business. September is one of the busiest months for the raceway, and a six week closure would be devastating, he said.

NewsInferno.com disclaimer: This article: Louisiana Oil Well Blowout Prompts Evacuations, Could Take Weeks to Contain was posted on Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 at 8:59 am at NewsInferno.com and is filed under Accident, Oil Spills.

And this: BP, Feds don’t know what’s causing pressure drop: “We’re concerned about the vital signs of this well. We continue to be concerned about the vital signs.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmBZpheOyy0

Joint Incident Commander mentions phrase “vital signs” four times in two minutes at today’s press conference.

Press Briefing by National Incident Commander Thad Allen, August 18, 2010 at 12:15 p.m. EDT:

We’re concerned about the vital signs of this well. We continue to be concerned about the vital signs.

Our first goal is to do no harm. We are doing extensive consultation between our engineering team and the BP engineers. We are moving to prepare the well, the BOP, and a new blowout preventer for either course of action, whether it is putting a blowout preventer before or after we do the bottom kill. We will know when we have satisfied ourselves that we know the vital signs and we’ve removed every piece — any shadow of a doubt of any information we could develop from top side before we go forward…

We’re trying to do two things while the evaluation of alternatives is going on. We have the opportunity to develop more vital signs for the well, one of them being to remove all foreign objects — all foreign liquids from the current well, flush it, and fill it with seawater, so we have exactly the same density of material inside and outside the BOP that will allow us to do an ambient pressure test to see if there’s any kind of pressure, a rise or fall related to something other than what we believe now to be the gas bubbles that are escaping and causing the drop in pressure.

 

[Windmill knight]

Interesting about it maybe being a meteorite.....I had a theory cross my mind a week or so ago. That these sink holes are perhaps meteorite impacts (or something similar), only the meteorite is 4th density and the only sign its impacted is the sudden formation of a crater/hole?
But this is pure speculation....

Or maybe they are craters formed by meteorite impacts a long time ago, but they have been covered by earth and debris after hundreds or thousands of years. So when it rains heavily, the water filters down and makes the soil unstable and it collapses. The question is why now, and I can only speculate that it's part of the 'opening up' of the planet, together with the recent weather.

 

[Laura]

Can anybody find any really recent data on the state of the magnetic field?

 

[Windmill knight]

Can anybody find any really recent data on the state of the magnetic field?

These two sites have up to date raw data, but I find it really hard to make sense of it.

http://geomag.usgs.gov/observatories/data/realtime/

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/data.shtml

 

[Keit]

_http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/mysterious_12ft_hole_appears_in_town_road_1_634010

UK: Mysterious 12ft hole appears in town road

CURIOUS onlookers in a Suffolk market town have been fascinated by a mysterious hole that emerged in the middle of a road overnight.

Anglia Water have closed Woolhall Street in Bury St Edmunds after the small hole in the street’s tarmac appeared today.

A cavernous void, thought to be 12ft deep, has been found under the gap in the road’s surface.

Excavations are taking place today as engineers investigate the void.

The top of the road surface will be removed while workers check what is underneath the surface.

A spokeswoman for St Edmundsbury Borough Council said the road will be closed for at least a couple of days.

It is hoped the hole will be back filled and the road reopened but the extent of the work will not be known until further investigations take place.

- Buy tomorrow’s paper for the full story.

 

[Laura]

Geeze, the planet is "opening up" all over the place!