Sinkhole Swallows Iowa Front Yard [PHOTOS]

Last night, an Iowa man was awakened by neighbors who told him his hedge was sinking into the ground. Turns out, it was only the beginning.

The unidentified man, who lives at 4103 SW 5th St in Des Moines, awoke around 12:30 Wednesday morning to find a sinkhole forming and swallowing a 35-foot tree in his front yard. It kept growing. The hole had grown to 45 feet deep Wednesday afternoon and hadn't stopped.

A sinkhole in Iowa. It's a rarity, but this one can be explained. Des Moines Public Works Director, Jonathan Gano, told WHO-TV, “That neighborhood is covered by 223 acres of abandoned underground coal mines, and one of the maps showed a mine shaft near the residence. That’s the most likely cause of this particular sinkhole.”

The tree is scheduled to be removed from the hole Thursday. A 35-foot tree in a 45-foot hole? That, too, will be something to see.

[via WHO]