MANY PEOPLE IN DAISETTA, TEXAS (pop. 1,034), are wondering where they might be sleeping this time a week from now. A giant sinkhole opened up yesterday and continues to grow with no indication of whether it will stop or continue.
The sinkhole appeared near the center of Daisetta Wednesday morning and expanded rapidly, reaching a 900 ft. diameter and a depth of 200 ft. by nightfall.
[photopress:sink_c_beaumontenterprise.jpg,full,centered]
Beaumont Enterprise
The Houston Chronicle describes what happened next:
When spectators stood on the edge of the sinkhole they didn’t have to wait long to see something happen. The hole was surrounded by giant growing cracks that extended several hundred yards in concentric circles.
Without warning, dark, oily water in the bottom of the hole began to churn and whirl and then chunks of earth fell from the walls. Equipment, tanks and sheds slid with the dirt and disappeared into the hole.
Sometimes water poured from a nearby lake into the growing hole.
[photopress:sink_a_chron.jpg,full,centered]
Houston Chronicle
Sunoco, a leading manufacturer and marketer of petroleum and petrochemical products, secured two 6-inch crude oil pipelines near the sinkhole that were starting to leak.
Ramona Nye, spokeswoman for the Texas Railroad Commission, said the owners of two crude-oil gathering pipe systems and one natural-gas gathering system in the area were warned to keep close watch for potential damage. She said none had experienced any damage so far.
The growth of the hole slowed down considerably during the night, but this morning it was continuing its expansion.
No evacuations have been ordered yet, but authorities are preparing to act quickly if the sinkhole should resume its remarkable expansion from Wednesday, when it swallowed trees, telephone poles, storage tanks, oil field equipment, a tractor and the cab of an 18-wheeler.
[photopress:sink_b_ap_sullivan.jpg,full,centered]
AP / Sullivan photo
Read the full account in the Houston Chronicle HERE.
Click to play a brief video report from AP:
Recent Comments