© TwitterResidents in the area say they noticed cracking and popping sounds starting Thursday, July 6, 2023
A dozen homes in LA were evacuated on Saturday night after the houses appeared to be on the verge of collapse and about to tumble into the canyon behind them. The foundations of homes situated along Peartree Lane in Rolling Hills Estates in LA County suddenly shifted following a major landslide.
Police, fire and utility company officials were on the scene Sunday to assist with the evacuation, which saw a total of 16 residents being forced to flee their homes.
The residents had 20 minutes to gather their things and get out, officials warned before access was restricted.
LA fire dept shows damaged homes after massive landslide
SoCal Edison shut off power in the area, and Southern California Gas Company crews were called in to make sure no gas lines had ruptured.
Residents in the area reported they started hearing cracking and popping noises as early as Thursday. The neighborhood was first built in 1978 and had been solid until this weekend.
'We thought something was amidst because all through the day and night we heard cracks in the house,' said one evacuated, Weber Yen. 'And then, you know, the frequency became more and more frequent.'
By Sunday afternoon, LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn said the homes on Peartree Lane were 'completely destroyed.'
'This is just devastating for these residents,' she said.
The ordeal began when cracks were discovered in one of the homes, which then saw crews investigating other nearby structures.
Unfortunately, the damage appeared to spread from one home to the next leading all 12 to be evacuated.
'They discovered cracks along the structure of one building, and upon further investigation they realized that there were some cracks running through one home specifically, and it was progressing to the next home,' LA fire Captain Chiyoshi Hasegawa told KTLA.
'We got additional specialists to assess the situation, and after assessing the situation we realized there were 12 homes that had received damage either inside of their home or outside of the structure.'
'I was up actually, most of the night, worrying about what's going to happen,' said Mimi Borg to ABC 7. 'They told us that they would knock on our door if we had to be evacuated.'
One woman who lives on the street but whose home was not affected because it sits on the side opposite the canyon explained how she was woken up by the commotion.
'I was sleeping...[I woke up to] a lot of noises and fire trucks, I was very concerned,' she said. 'Then I was up most of the night worrying about what's going to happen.
'My home is fine; we are on the ocean side...it's the canyon side that's having the problems. They told us they were not going to [evacuate us] if they didn't need to,' she added.
No injuries were reported. Geologists are now conducting an investigation into what caused the landslide.
sorry , couldn't resist! living on the edge of the canyon....hmmmm, never in my wildest dreams did I think we'd ever have to deal with a landslide!