The Bayou Corne community is 1730' from the sinkhole.
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On Wings Of Care has just completed its sixth flyover documenting the growth of the Bayou Corne sinkhole. Comparison photos from their first flight in August 2012 with the sixth flight in April 2013 show the tremendous increase in size of the sinkhole.
Sinkhole growth: Aug. 2012 and April 2013.
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The sinkhole is currently 975' x 840,' according to a map released by the Assumption Parish office of Homeland Security & Emergency Prepardness on April 3, 2013.
By comparison, the height of the Statue of Liberty is 305 feet total: it is 151 ft. from the base of the statue to the torch. With the pedestal and foundation included in the measurement, the full height of this iconic statue is 305 ft.
A detail photo shows the size of people in relation to the size of the statue.
Statue of Liberty: detail showing people
(Image by (From Wikimedia) Elcobbola, Author: Elcobbola) Details Source DMCA
Three Statues of Liberty, including their bases (305' each) could be placed end-to-end into the 975' long sinkhole, with room left over.
How many Statues of Liberty would fit into the sinkhole?
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On Wings Of Care is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of wildlife, wild habitat, and natural ecosystems. Founder and President Bonny Schumaker, Ph.D., is retired from 22 years as a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She's also a former Continental Airlines pilot and has been an FAA flight instructor for over 15 years.
Combining her skills as pilot and scientist with her passion for wildlife, Dr. Schumaker has clocked nearly 600 hours of flight time over the Gulf of Mexico, documenting the status of wildlife, coastal wetlands, and offshore waters. She has worked with numerous universities, government agencies, environmental groups, and media. The Gulf Coast, its wildlife, and its people, now dear to her heart, have become her second home.
Dr. Schumaker said that the most recent flight over the sinkhole "revealed a site much worse than we could have imagined last summer. Unlike previously, rainbow sheen now covers virtually the entire visible sinkhole. Many trees on the west side have now disappeared, as has quite a large corner of a dirt work pad at the southeast corner."
"While the close-up photos are dramatic, the distant photos that include the community and surroundings are most compelling. In those we see a beautiful, neatly maintained neighborhood of homes in startlingly close proximity to peril. All around are wetlands and forests of cypress, the uniquely beautiful signature of Louisiana. Who could blame people for settling here and staying for generation upon generation?
"But, what now?"
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