Louisiana's Assumption Parish officials released some amazing video on Wednesday, showing a sinkhole swallowing several tall trees in a matter of seconds. The video is described as a "slough in" that happened around 7:15 p.m.. The collapse comes a little more than a year after an area around Bayou Corne, Louisiana, dissolved into liquefied muck. The sinkhole was first discovered Aug. 3, 2012, and has now grown to encompass 24 acres, according to The Times-Picayune on Thursday, Aug. 22.
![Luisiana sinkhole swallows giant trees]( "Luisiana sinkhole swallows giant trees")
John Boudreaux, director of emergency preparedness for the parish, witnessed a "burp", or a small disturbance on the water's surface, just after lunch on Wednesday. He said he knew it could signal something bigger.
"I saw some increased bubble activity, so I called my counterparts to meet me out there", Boudreaux said. That's how he managed to have his camera rolling when the trees began being sucked down.
The unfortunate 350 residents of the small community have no end in sight to their evacuation order, since the sinkhole continues to widen.
Texas Brine LLC operated a salt dome cavern in the area, and officials are blaming them for the environmental damage and massive sinkhole that opened up when that dome collapsed.
According to The Weather Channel, a salt dome is a large, naturally occurring underground salt deposit.
They say companies drill on the edges of the dome to create caverns for extracting brine that is used for such things as the petrochemical refining process.
Officials expect the sinkhole to stabilize once debris fills the void created by the collapsed cavern. However, as the land has continued to shift and the hole continues to expand, they say that could take up to three years.
The state of Louisiana announced earlier this month that it is suing the company as a result of this catastrophe.
The sinkhole is located in a swampy area of Assumption Parish, approximately 40 miles south of Baton Rouge.--Source: The Examiner
WATCH THE VIDEO:
John Boudreaux, director of emergency preparedness for the parish, witnessed a "burp", or a small disturbance on the water's surface, just after lunch on Wednesday. He said he knew it could signal something bigger.
"I saw some increased bubble activity, so I called my counterparts to meet me out there", Boudreaux said. That's how he managed to have his camera rolling when the trees began being sucked down.
The unfortunate 350 residents of the small community have no end in sight to their evacuation order, since the sinkhole continues to widen.
Texas Brine LLC operated a salt dome cavern in the area, and officials are blaming them for the environmental damage and massive sinkhole that opened up when that dome collapsed.
According to The Weather Channel, a salt dome is a large, naturally occurring underground salt deposit.
They say companies drill on the edges of the dome to create caverns for extracting brine that is used for such things as the petrochemical refining process.
Officials expect the sinkhole to stabilize once debris fills the void created by the collapsed cavern. However, as the land has continued to shift and the hole continues to expand, they say that could take up to three years.
The state of Louisiana announced earlier this month that it is suing the company as a result of this catastrophe.
The sinkhole is located in a swampy area of Assumption Parish, approximately 40 miles south of Baton Rouge.--Source: The Examiner
WATCH THE VIDEO: