Photos: Baltimore Sinkhole Swallowed Cars, Streetlights and Trees

Streetlights, trees and cars have collapsed onto a train track in Baltimore. (Photo by Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Three days after severe storms and tornadoes killed at least 31 people in the United States South and Mid-West, the region has been hit by severe flash flooding.

The heavy rains have caused an enormous sinkhole to open up at 26th Street and North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland at around 4 p.m. on Wednesday near the train tracks used by CSX rail traffic.

Streetlights, cars and tress were swallowed into the sinkhole, but fire department officials don’t believe anyone was injured in the incident.  

The landslide swept across a set of train tracks and resulted in the suspension of some CSX rail traffic.

People living on the block and surrounding area have been evacuated.

Please click the photos for larger images:

Goodbye street: Cars sit on the edge of a sinkhole in the Charles Village neighborhood of Baltimore, Wednesday, April 30, 2014, as heavy rain moves through the region. (AP)

The sinkhole measured a street long and caused a row of houses to evacuate. (Reuters)

Multiple vehicles lie at the bottom of a landslide after heavy rains caused a street to give way in Baltimore, Maryland. (Reuters)

26th retaining wall collapse

A blue car rests precariously on the edge of the road after a retaining wall collapsed beneath a row of vehicles. (Reuters)

Streetlights, trees and cars have collapsed onto a train track in Baltimore. (Photo by Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post via Getty Images)

 

Shocking Video Of Giant Sinkhole Swallowing Houses In Rio Slum

Terrifying: Residents in a town in the north of Brazil screamed in horror as they watched their homes disappear into massive sink holes on the weekend. MailOnline.

Mail Online reported that:

“Residents in a town in the north of Brazil screamed in horror as they watched their homes disappear into massive sink holes on the weekend. “

The CCTV footage below shows how a giant sinkhole, which is reportedly caused by water erosion, opened up and swallowed house after house the city of Abaetetuba, in the northern state of Para in Brazil.

Please watch the video closely to see how panic residents frantically running to a house on the right of the screen as a woman on the first floor resorted to desperate measures by throwing her child out of a window. 

The child was caught and was quickly carried away by helpers.

The neighbours then brought a ladder to the house to help the woman escaped just before  the building was swallowed into the sinkhole.

Luckily, nobody was injured in the disaster.

The area was affected by the erosion borders the Maracatuíra river, which runs through the town.

According to environmental experts who have been inspecting the area, the construction of houses close to the river and the uncontrolled growth of the neighbourhood are at the root of the problem, and are the main cause of the tragedy.

The removal of vegetation from the an area close to the banks affects the soils rate of absorption. 

Water that would have previously infiltrated tree and plant roots is no longer absorbed naturally and with nowhere to go soaks into and begins to erode the earth.

Florida Man Swallowed By Sinkhole Feared Dead

FILE – This undated photo provided by Jeremy Bush shows Jeff Bush. Jeremy Bush heard a loud crash and screaming coming from his brother’s room early Thursday, March 1, 2013 in Seffner, Fla. A large sinkhole opened under Jeff’s bedroom and he disappeared together with most of the bedroom furniture. Jeremy jumped into the hole and was quickly up to his neck in dirt. Jeff is presumed dead. (AP Photo/Jeremy Bush, HO)

A man feared dead after he was swallowed by a sinkhole in his suburban Tampa home in Seffner, Florida.

Reuters reported that Jeff Bush, 37, was in his bedroom Thursday night when the sinkhole suddenly swallowed him and the entire bedroom into the ground.

The sinkhole was estimated 20 feet across and 20 feet deep.

It caused the home’s concrete floor to cave in around 11 p.m. Thursday.

Fortunately five other people in the house were unharmed.

Bush’s brother Jeremy Bush jumped into the hole and tried to dig to find his brother but he could not find him.

He was rescued by Douglas Duvall of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office who pulled him out from the sinkhole.

The sinkhole is slowly growing and it was feared that the entire house could eventually falls into the unstable ground.

Engineers said the house may have to be demolished, even though from the outside the house seems to be alright.

They took soil samples and ran various tests and found that the entire lot was dangerous.

Reuters reported that,”Authorities had not detected any signs of life after lowering listening devices and cameras into the hole and rescue efforts were suspended after the site was deemed too unsafe for emergency personnel to enter”.

Two adjacent houses were evacuated and officials were considering further evacuations.

“This is not your typical sinkhole,” said Hillsborough County administrator Mike Merrill.

Florida is highly prone to sinkholes because there are caverns below ground of limestone, a porous rock that easily dissolves in water.

This is a disaster.

But when it happens away from buildings and roads, it could turn out to be nice and beautiful places after a long time; please click here for ‘Photos: Amazing Sinkholes Around The World’.

(Please click the photos for larger images)

A crew member from the Hillsborough County Public Works Department sends a special pipe camera down a drain within the secured area surrounding a home where a sinkhole opened up and swallowed a man in Seffner, Florida, March 1, 2013. The 36-year-old Florida man was feared dead on Friday after the sinkhole suddenly opened beneath the bedroom of his suburban Tampa home swallowing him, police and fire officials said. Rescuers responded to a 911 call late on Thursday after the man’s family reported hearing a loud crash in the house and rushed to his bedroom. REUTERS/Brian Blanco

Jeremy Bush, brother of Jeff Bush, breaks down as he speaks to the media about attempting to rescue Jeff as he disappeared in a sinkhole Friday, March 1, 2013, in Seffner, Fla. Jeff Bush screamed for help and disappeared as a large sinkhole opened under the bedroom of the house, his brother said Friday. Jeremy Bush told rescue crews he heard a loud crash near midnight Thursday, then heard his brother screaming. There’s been no contact with Jeff Bush since then, and neighbors on both sides of the home have been evacuated. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

Family members console each other near the home where Jeff Bush disappeared as a large sinkhole opened under the bedroom of his house on Friday, March 1, 2013, in Seffner, Fla. Jeremy Bush told rescue crews he heard a loud crash near midnight Thursday, then heard his brother screaming. There’s been no contact with Jeff Bush since then, and neighbors on both sides of the home have been evacuated. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

An engineer surveys in front of a home where sinkhole opened up on Friday, March 1, 2013, in Seffner, Fla. A man screamed for help and disappeared as a large sinkhole opened under the bedroom of the house, his brother said Friday. The brother told rescue crews he heard a loud crash near midnight Thursday, then heard his brother screaming. The brother called police and frantically tried to help. An arriving deputy pulled him from the still-collapsing house. There’s been no contact with the man since then, and neighbors on both sides of the home have been evacuated. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara

Family members console each other near the home where Jeff Bush disappeared as a large sinkhole opened under the bedroom of his house on Friday, March 1, 2013, in Seffner, Fla. Jeremy Bush told rescue crews he heard a loud crash near midnight Thursday, then heard his brother screaming. There’s been no contact with Jeff Bush since then, and neighbors on both sides of the home have been evacuated. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

Engineers work in front of a home where sinkhole opened up underneath a bedroom and swallowed a man Friday, March 1, 2013, in Seffner, Fla. Jeff Bush screamed for help and disappeared as a large sinkhole opened under the bedroom of his house, his brother said Friday. Jeremy Bush told rescue crews he heard a loud crash near midnight Thursday, then heard his brother screaming. There’s been no contact with Jeff Bush since then, and neighbors on both sides of the home have been evacuated. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

 

Photos: Amazing Sinkholes Around The World

Scenic Cenote, Cenote Dzitnup is also located in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. Underground, freshwater-filled sinkholes with openings shinning through at the top like this one are known as cenotes in Mexico and Central America.

Sinkholes can be very dangerous because they could destroy roads, vehicles, bulidings and houses. But when it happens away from buildings and roads, it could turn out be nice and beautiful places after a long time. The pictures below were taken by Live Science about beautiful sinkholes. Hope you’ll enjoy them!

(Please click the photos below for larger images)

Swallow Holes, Sinkholes, also known as shake holes or swallow holes, occur when water seeps into solid bedrock and erodes it to the point that an underground cavity forms. When this cavity collapses, it forms a crater-like depression. Sinkholes occur all over the world — in jungles as well as cities — and can appear suddenly or gradually. The Bimmah Sinkhole, above, is located on the coast of Oman, an Arab state in the Arabian Peninsula.

The Devil’s Hole. Yet another sinkhole with a demonic name, the Devil’s Hole in Hawthorne, Fla., is about 100 feet (30 meters) deep. It’s also known as the Devil’s sink and is a popular spot for locals and even has a rope swing and two jumping platforms. Originally the site of a limestone dig, the sinkhole has an underwater entrance leading to a cave system that few divers dare to explore.

The Sinkhole of Red Lake, Located in the city of Imotski, Croatia, the Red Lake is named for the reddish-brown color of the iron oxides in its surrounding cliffs. The pit, which has become a lake, is lined with nearly vertical walls. As one of the largest sinkholes in the world, it is about 1,700 feet (530 m) deep.

Twin Sinkholes, The photographer snapped this aerial photo of the Melchor de Mencos sinkholes while flying over Petén, in the northern part of Guatemala. These twin cenotes are located near Lake Macanche and are surrounded by a thick rain forest.

Bimmah Sinkhole, The Bimmah Sinkhole is near Dibab village in Oman, an Arab state in the Arabian Peninsula. A winding stone staircase leads down to the sinkhole, which is a beautiful aquamarine and emerald color, with the darker green hues resulting from algae growth in the water.

Mount Gambier Sinkhole, This massive sinkhole is located in Mount Gambier, South Australia, and was formed by acidic groundwater eroding the area’s porous limestone. The region contains many water-filled caves and sinkholes, but the Mount Gambier sinkhole has become an Australian landmark, and was even turned into a beautiful recreational garden for the general public and tourists.