The devastating scene of homes destroyed and residents evacuated after a massive landslide Saturday night in a Los Angeles County neighborhood continues with the ground shifting another 20 feet in the last 24 hours.
Officials now say it’s only a matter of time before some of the homes on Peartree Lane in Rolling Hills Estates, on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, tumble down the steep canyon.
According to the L.A. County Fire Department, reported cracks led crews to find that damage had progressed to neighboring residences, prompting evacuations. SoCal Edison shut off power in the area, and Southern California Gas Company crews were called in to make sure no gas lines had been ruptured.
“I’ve heard a lot of popping,” Peartree Lane resident Greg Brooks told KTLA. “We’ve watched this over the last four days now, 96 hours basically.”
Brooks spent most of Monday packing his belongings, putting moving boxes into a U-Haul truck after calling Rolling Hills Estates home for the last eight years.
“The fact is my lease is up,” he said. “I’ve been going month-to-month. So, this is the opportune time to pack up and move out two months early.”
Unfortunately, some of his neighbors are not as lucky. One entire row of homes on Peartree Lane are a total loss. So far, 12 homes have been red tagged with another 10 homes actively moving with the shifting ground. Another 16 homes are being monitored and 16 residents have been displaced.
“The movement is still astounding to me, how quickly these homes are…collapsing and sliding down the hill,” L.A. County Board Supervisor Janice Hahn said Monday.
City and county officials walked through the devastation during the day, assessing the damage.
Though the problem of cracks in the ground and the houses was reported over the weekend, the source of the problem is still a mystery.
“We don’t know how long that these homes are going to continue to move but at this time, it’s a holding pattern that we’re in, waiting to see what the final determination will be,” L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said.
The homeowner’s association is reportedly responsible for hiring a geologist to determine what’s going on with the terrain.
“For these homes that are already gone and into the canyon, there’s nothing more we can do for them, but we think after it’s all settled, a good geologist and soil expert maybe will give us a clue about how this happened and if there’s any way to prevent it from happening in the future,” Hahn added.
For now, the county assessor is stepping in and offering property tax relief to the impacted homeowners.
The Rolling Hills Estates City Council is set to have a meeting Tuesday night where city officials are expected to declare a local state of emergency.