Major landslides have led to the evacuation of homes in various coastal areas of California, following torrential rains and storms that hit this American state.
Torrential rains that have hit California in recent days have caused massive landslides, including some near homes in mountainous beachfront areas on Thursday. In various counties, the ground collapsed, leading to the evacuation of residents.
In southern California, bad weather caused a landslide in San Clemente, up a hill and near homes. The images show a swimming pool on the edge of the void, the buildings being barely spared.
Residents evacuated
Given the instability of the ground following these collapses, residents were forced to flee their houses located on the hillside and overlooking the sea. They do not know when they will be able to return to their homes.
“The ground continues to move (…) therefore the structures are always in danger”, indicated Thursday during a press conference the mayor of San Clemente, Chris Duncan, quoted by The Guardian.
The National Weather Service has also said that more heavy rains could hit southern California early next week. The Guardian. According to the newspaper, some 35 of the 58 counties are now under a declaration of emergency.
In this Southern California city, the ocean is inexorably gaining ground. In front of the railway embankment where the “Pacific Surfliner”, this train renowned for its exceptional panorama, passes, the beach which stretched over a hundred meters a few years ago has evaporated.
Without this natural buffer, waves from Tropical Storm Kay in September stirred the ground beneath the tracks. The track, which carries 8.3 million passengers annually between San Diego and San Luis Obispo, is now closed for emergency work.
Nine storms in three weeks in California
In addition to these landslides, falling trees and flooding, following the recent series of storms that hit California, have spared nothing either for the inhabitants of the mountainous region of Boulder Creek, already bruised by a massive fire two years ago.
The US state has just been hit by nine storms in a row in the space of three weeks. They generated torrential rains in the mountains surrounding Boulder Creek, seven times higher than the average for the month of January, according to official data.
Spilled on ground weakened by the 2020 fire, where the vegetation has not finished taking root, these waterspouts have increased the risk of mudslides.
A sinkhole, which had already opened in 2019 and had since been closed, also reopened in La Habra on Wednesday evening, reports the NBCLA. According to the chain, this large hole would be about meters deep. Residents then confided that they heard “a sound of an earthquake” to the local media.
