They thought it had stopped. But now it turns out that the people of Daisetta, Texas were completely wrong.

The sinkhole, which for 15 years had been in a kind of hibernation, has started to grow again.

– It would have been just a pond for us. A story we told our children, Krystal Parrish tells ABC News.

The fear that several houses and the secondary school in the small town of around 1,000 inhabitants will be swallowed up has returned.

– Must follow

2008 was the year the sinkhole first appeared. As it reached nearly 200 meters in diameter and more than 20 meters deep, several vehicles and oil tanks disappeared.

However, the neighboring houses were saved at the time. As the sinkhole stabilized, fear of losing their homes among those who lived nearby also increased.

Local authorities say they are monitoring the situation closely, after the ground movements were discovered earlier in April.

– I think it’s too early to panic. But citizens need to monitor the situation, geologist Richard Howe told ABC News.

– I’m pretty scared

So far, the reassuring words haven’t helped Parrish significantly. She claims there has been little information about what is really going on with the sinkhole.

– I’m not going to lie, I’m quite scared because it’s the second time in my life that this has happened to me. My house is only 400 meters away, she said.

According to geologist Howe, the cause of the sinkhole’s appearance at Daisetta has never been established. Extensive salt deposits in the ground have been floated as a possible explanation, but due to the poor financial situation of the municipality, no thorough investigation has been carried out that can provide a conclusion with certainty.

– Things can happen tomorrow

After the hole appeared in 2008, Liberty County was asked to set up a surveillance system in the area. City Clerk Joan Caruthers does not know if such a system has ever been installed at the sinkhole.

The drilling was followed in the following years, but never concretely followed over time. For now, steel poles have been installed at 15 meter intervals to detect any change and movement, which will act as a kind of alert system.

– The situation may change in 15 or 100 years. Or things could happen tomorrow. It’s impossible to predict, says Howe, who adds that there’s nothing you can do if the sinkhole continues to grow.