Residents pack bags after sinkhole swallows more trees - WAFF-TV: News, Weather and Sports for Huntsville, AL

Dramatic video of a line of trees getting sucked into the giant sinkhole in Bayou Corne is making waves online and in national news.

It shows entire trees getting sucked into the sinkhole in Assumption Parish.

The clip has convinced some homeowners to start packing their bags.

The event that changed the lives of more than a hundred families in Bayou Corne a year ago is sweeping the country making national news headlines and spreading like wildfire on the Internet.

Assumption Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness Director, John Boudreaux, captured the clip on his cell phone.

"I'm getting ready to conduct two more interviews with national news. We had 50,000 hits (online) yesterday afternoon," Boudreaux said.

Homeowners like Betty Thibodeaux said they knew the 25 acre slurry was active but seeing the video of tall trees disappearing into the water really put things into perspective.

"God almighty. Oh, my God. Now that's scary huh? Good Lord," Thibodeaux said

Thibodeaux was comfortable in Bayou Corne. She said leaving was tough.

"It's heartbreaking, very much heart breaking. I've cried many nights. When I first left I was crying every night," Thibodeaux said.

She said she and her husband have been living in a motor home and coming back to check on their house every Thursday. Now she is packing her things and moving for good.

"It scares me to death. I don't want to stay. I stay long enough for my brother to cut the grass and then I pack my stuff and then we leave," Thibodeaux said.

Her brother, Wallace Cavalier, lives next door.

"It's not a good situation. Personally, I think it's a bad situation fixing to get worse," Cavalier said.

Boudreaux said he's seen seismic activity at the sinkhole before. But it's the first time he's seen something so striking.

"It's very strange to have a tree go down vertically," Boudreaux said.

The video has accomplished what residents had been hoping for, for more than a year, some serious attention.

"Finally, over a year now and finally getting the word spread so to speak," Cavalier said.

"I think something may happen now and it's time. It's 20 months when we go to court in April that we've been out of our house," Thibodeaux said.

Homeowners said they hope it's not too late.

The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources said the recent activity at the sinkhole does not represent a new threat to public safety.

Leaders said they've seen larger slough ins.

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