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Orinda home severely damaged by mudslide, no one injured

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Thursday, February 9, 2017
A massive mudslide crashed into a home in Orinda causing major damage but no one was injured.
ORINDA, Calif. (KGO) -- A massive 200-yard mudslide crashed right into a home in Orinda.


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No one inside of the home on Van Tassel and Sunnyvale Lane was injured when the mud and debris came crashing into the home.

The homeowner says he was inside the home's bathroom and thought it was just thunder or hail outside.



"Yesterday around about 9:30 in the morning I heard this loud noise. I thought it might be thunder. We don't get very loud thunder around here but it was very loud," said Paul Vittimberga, who owns the home.

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The bathroom is now unrecognizable, aside from a few glass bricks. "I was actually up in that bathroom behind those glass blocks and came out and was like maybe its hail. Then I saw the wall of the office starting to come in on me. Then I ran downstairs, " said Vittimberg.

The home was yellow-tagged by the county, Thursday morning, it has since been red-tagged as the rain continues to fall. It's estimated that the mudslide contains 180,000-cubic-feet of material.

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The home next door also had some mud and debris in the backyard, but the damage is minor in comparison.



On the other side of Orinda, another slide covered the roadway across Park Lane. City crews are keeping a close eye on it, making stops every hour to look for any sign of movement.
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So far no homes are at risk of being hit by the slide on Park Lane, but residents say they're nervous.



"It's my house so you can't help but be a little nervous about what's happening there," said Tom Zundel, who lives in the neighborhood.

Emergency crews are warning all residents in Orinda that the storm is far from over so things could change at any moment.

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