A sinkhole is a cavity in the ground, especially in a limestone formation, caused by water erosion and providing a route for surface water to disappear underground.
Recently, a sinkhole has swallowed part of a backyard in Australia, and historical mine maps and plans are being reviewed after the sinkhole filled with swirling water opened the land in the backyard of a home in Ipswich, west of Brisbane in Australia.
ABC reported that A neighbour alerted Lynn and Ray McKay about 9:00am after noticing the hole opening up on their Basin Pocket property, adding that the hole has since increased to about eight metres in diameter.
“Well, we don’t get up ’til late because we are retired,” he said. “Nine o’clock I got a knock on the door and it’s the chap from next door. “I come out and I’ve got a hole in the ground, it was only a little one, a metre, and it’s just got bigger since.”
Weather.com website mentioned that The hole is actually an old mineshaft dug on the McKay property in 1903, long before they owned it, local officials told the Melbourne Age. It’s an exploratory shaft that goes down about 300 feet, at which point the miners realized the coal was too deep and not worth further digging.
“You can see this shaft was full up with rubbish and bottles and whoever [filled it], didn’t follow very good practices,” Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale told the Courier Mail. But, “there’s no need to panic about a neighborhood falling in.”
Ray and Lynn have good reason to worry, though. The couple lost everything back in 2011 when floodwaters inundated their home, the Courier Mail also reported.
“This is just as challenging (as the floods) for us; we’re lucky that we have some wonderful neighbors that are looking after us,” Lynn told the paper.
The city is looking out for them as well, Pisasale told the Age.
“I have made arrangements for Ray and Lynn McKay to be in hotel accommodation overnight to make sure they have some peace of mind,” he told the Age. “Until we know they are going to be safe, they won’t be staying here.”
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