The Devil’s Sinkhole

[424 words] In 1983 the residents of a Florida apartment building awoke to a terrifying sight outside their windows. The ground beneath the street in front of their apartment building had literally collapsed, creating a massive depression that Floridians call a sinkhole. Tumbling into the ever-deepening pit were automobiles, sidewalks, and lawn furniture. The apartment building was obviously the next thing to go. Geologists tell us that sinkholes occur when the under ground rock and sediment is drained away by the forces of erosion. When this happens, the crust of the earth no longer has a supporting structure. When the external forces exceed the limits of the underneath support, the ground collapses and a sinkhole is formed. Anything that happens to be on the surface when the ground collapses is swallowed up in sudden destruction, houses, cars, factories, highways, livestock, pets, and people. In Rock Springs, Texas, there is a…