Today in sinkhole news

From Florida, a little known homeowner's insurance fact:

Sinkholes are so common in Florida that the state requires home insurers to provide coverage against the danger. While some cars, homes and other buildings have been devoured, it is extremely rare for a sinkhole to swallow a person.

No, they aren't usually carnivorous. Except in cases like the one linked above which is actually quite horrifying. 

Jeff Bush, 37, was in his bedroom on Thursday night when the earth opened and took him and everything else in his room. Five other people were in the house but escaped unharmed. Mr. Bush’s brother jumped into the hole to try to help, but he had to be rescued by a sheriff’s deputy.

Perhaps a bit too soon The Levee has followed up on this by reporting on a similar local phenomenon.

In the wake of the sinkhole that claimed the life of a Florida man, a New Orleans woman is missing after being swallowed by one of the city’s infamous potholes, police said Saturday.

The unidentified New Orleans woman was pushing a grocery cart apparently to the nearby Rouse’s Supermarket early Saturday morning when a giant pothole opened up – a common occurrence in the city – on Robert Street at busy Magazine Street and swallowed her, witnesses said.

The Levee story includes a photo of the apparently orphaned grocery cart.  Here's a similar incident to that one which we've reported on ourselves numerous times.



Meanwhile, in Bayou Corne, the Texas Brine chemical swamp sinkhole now covers approximately 8.6 acres.  Residents there are asking to be bought out.  

On the 200th day of their mandatory evacuation, Assumption Parish residents asked legislators for help Tuesday in persuading Texas Brine Co. LLC to buy homes affected by an 8.6-acre sinkhole.
Bayou Corne homeowner Candy Blanchard said she will never again feel safe in the house she built six years ago.

“Texas Brine has taught me more about purgatory and limbo, and I went to Catholic school, than the nuns could,” Blanchard said.

In response, legislators pressed Texas Brine officials for their position on buyouts. The company said it is in conversations with its insurance carrier.

After 200 plus days the Bayou Corne sinkhole is finally beginning to attract some celebrity attention.  Next weekend, environmental activist Erin Brockovich will appear at a community meeting in Pierre Part to discuss legal options with residents... provided the earth doesn't swallow her unexpectedly between now and then.