That Sinking Feeling...

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One minute you are minding your own business and the next you are disappearing in to a whole that has suddenly appeared in the ground at your feet. It may sound like the stuff of science fiction but it happens, perhaps more regularly than you might have thought. A sinkhole can appear without any notice and if it does, it’s time to get out of the way!

In January 2008 all was normal on Montrose Avenue in Chicago’s Ravenswood area. A thirty six inch water main became faulty and eventually snapped, which led to the collapse of an eighty foot section of road. The Torito restaurant was one of the victims. The sink hole has now been filled in and made safe, but not before some of Chicago’s wackier residents formed a faux campaign to save what they saw as a new city landmark.

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A late night drive can sometimes lead to unexpected consequences. A driver in Brooklyn, New York discovered that sometimes you have to watch more than just the traffic lights.

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It was early March 2006 and Ms Nancy Batista was waiting for a red light to change on Fourth Avenue. Suddenly her journey took an unexpected turn when her SUV plummeted through a sudden sinkhole. Fortunately, the vehicle landed on a gas main four feet down – the while itself was ten feet deep. Nancy had just a few cuts and bruises and a sudden desire to walk places in the future.

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However, when injuries occur, sinkholes have to be taken a little more seriously.

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In February 2007 over a thousand people had to be evacuated from an area of Guatamala City when a gigantic sinkhole suddenly appeared. Several people were killed when their houses literally disappeared down the hole. The hole was blamed on the heavy rains that had fallen recently and the flow of sewage underground, spilling out from, yes, you’ve guessed it, a ruptured main.

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Some residents of Deltona, Florida, will never forget December 2004. A central road suddenly opened up meaning that twenty homes had to be evacuated. The collapsing asphalt had been noticed a few days earlier and workmen were pumping liquid cement in to the hole when the event happened.

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