A large Louisiana sinkhole swallowed a row of trees and the event was caught on video by a local man.
The sinkhole, located in Bayou Corne, opened its proverbial mouth back in August 2012. Since then, it has gotten bigger and bigger, to the point where it threatened the neighboring town which then needed to evacuate 350 residents.
The sinkhole originated in an area of nearby swampland and now covers a massive 24 acres.You can see from the eyewitness video clip that it is not something you would want to fall into . Fortunately, locals are taking the proper precautions and staying a safe distance from the hole.
Tim Murphy wrote about the sinkhole on motherjones.com earlier this month, reporting on the effect the sinkhole has had on the area since last year. He wrote that the hole was the result of a hollowed out salt cavern built by Texas Brine, a petrochemical company. But this was just the start of the tree swallowing sinkhole
In an article by Tim Murphy, ecologist Sandra Steingraber discusses the root cause of the massive hole: “When you keep drilling over and over and over again, whether it’s into bedrock or into salt caverns, at some point you have fractured the integrity of this underground structure enough that something is in danger of collapsing. It’s an inherently dangerous situation.”
It is not yet clear what will be the true effect of the collapsed salt cavern at Assumption Parrish, with the resulting danger and anguish it has caused to local residents .
Investigations by various local authorities are already underway, and solutions for minimizing damage and risk to human life are a priority.
You can watch the dramatic clip of the tree swallowing sinkhole below:
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