2 Santa Rosa homes red-tagged as landslide threatens several more
SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KGO) -- In the North Bay, two homes have been red-tagged and several other houses are in danger where a saturated hillside is failing and moving after too much rain. And, another storm is on the way.
"So we're sitting in our living room and we hear cracking, and it the fence that's shifting and breaking," said Becca Acosta
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It's not the sound Acosta wants to hear, her new fence buckling from a landslide that's slowly pushing a wall of dirt into her backyard from the hillside above.
"More rain is on the way, the dirt continues to shift, we don't know what to expect. We hope we don't get red-tagged like other houses in the area," Acosta said.
The city has red-tagged two homes on Cooper Drive, as it is unsafe for residents to stay here as the hill continues to move. Plastic tarps are now lining the slope to help keep rain away. The fire department says concern about this area began several months ago.
"The hillside had movement in January, given how much rain we've had with back-to-back storms, saturation of the soils has moved it considerably more," said Santa Rosa Fire Marshal Paul Lowenthal.
City engineers are monitoring conditions on the hill hour by hour.
"Right now, the focus is stabilize and minimize damage, figuring out a repair plan," said Lowenthal.
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The biggest worry surrounds another atmospheric river could bring an additional two to three inches of rain to Santa Rosa by Tuesday. Homeowner Jim Frye knows that won't be good for this unstable hill.
"If it's going to come down and keep on going, that could slide the houses off the foundations, it could slide mine too," Frye said.
The city says the property above the homes is owned by Congregation Shomrei Torah.
The city says it's working with the synagogue and geotechnical engineers to evaluate the conditions, and have placed additional plastic sheeting and sandbags to protect the hillside against further rain infiltration into the soil to slow the slide mass movement.
Once access to the area is safe and weather conditions have improved, the city says it will begin to remove the slide mass to reduce the current threat and work with property owners to evaluate the next steps. But dry weather is needed for that and another storm is on approach.
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