Ten homes in the seaside hilltop community of Rancho Palos Verdes in Los Angeles County began falling into a canyon on Monday, hours after residents were evacuated due to a sudden landslide that appeared on Saturday.
A news photographer stops to take a photo of a damaged house in Rolling Hills Estates on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County, on Monday, July 10, 2023. A dozen homes torn apart by earth movement on Southern California’s Palos Verdes Peninsula during the weekend are likely to fall into an adjacent canyon. The homes in the Los Angeles County city were hastily evacuated by firefighters Saturday when cracks began appearing in structures and the ground. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
As Breitbart News reported Monday, residents were given just a few minutes to evacuate their homes and take whatever belongings they could carry, after a call to the local fire department revealed the impending danger.
A patio of a house in Rolling Hills Estates is severely damaged after a landslide on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County, on Monday, July 10, 2023. The Los Angeles County city of Rolling Hills Estates were hastily evacuated by firefighters Saturday when cracks began appearing in structures and the ground. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
City water and power employees assess the damage to houses in Rolling Hills Estates on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County, on Monday, July 10, 2023. A dozen homes torn apart by earth movement on Southern California’s Palos Verdes Peninsula during the weekend are likely to fall into an adjacent canyon. The homes were hastily evacuated by firefighters Saturday when cracks began appearing in structures and the ground. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
The Los Angeles Times noted that ten of the twelve homes in the Rolling Estates gated community are doomed:
The homes were red-tagged after firefighters and investigators found them visibly leaning Saturday afternoon because of massive movement on the hillside. It’s still unclear what initially caused the ongoing landslide in the community, which is on the northern side of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, facing Torrance. A geologist or soil expert hasn’t yet been out to the site, officials said.
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Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said Monday evening that his crews continued to monitor the still-moving ground. Although they had documented damage on all 12 red-tagged units, he said no other nearby homes had yet been affected. At least eight homes have been completely ruined in the collapse.
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As L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn toured the street again Monday, she affirmed her prior assessment that most of the homes would completely fall into the canyon. She estimated they had fallen another 20 feet since Sunday afternoon.
As Breitbart News and others noted, the landslide is part of the 240-acre Portuguese Bend Landslide complex, the most active landslide area in North America, which was dormant until roadworks began 67 years ago.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
