D.T. Carson
Baldwin Hills residents remain on edge as the recent series of storms and atmospheric rivers wreaking havoc in Southern California have triggered multiple mudslides in the area, threatening homes in the storied L.A. community.
Four homes have been yellow tagged, but dozens of homeowners are fearful of what any additional rain will bring as the increasing mud and debris generated by the storms accelerate their concerns in what has been an historic rainy season.
Traffic on La Brea had to be temporarily diverted due to a mudslide that trapped two cars—shutting down La Brea for ten hours just north of Stocker— during last week’s rains.
“I’m emotionally drained, said Chris Baccus, who’s been a resident since 1988 and whose home is among those with property teetering close to the edge of the rain-soaked hills. “It has never been this bad. There’s a high level of concern for the stability of these hills.”
“It’s interesting how the media is focusing on San Clemente, when right here in L.A. we’ve got mudslides that have damaged homes and put dozens of homes at risk,” Baccus continued. “My neighbors and I have had to spend $4000 to baton down the hatches as far as protecting our hill from the next rain. That was immediate.”
John Gonzales of the Baldwin Hills Homeowners Association reported that there were upwards of 15-18 different mudslides in the area, most of them impacting backyards, patios, decks and retainer walls.
“With the ground so saturated, a lot of them gave way last week,” Gonzales said. “And there are perhaps another five or so homes that could be yellow-tagged with the next heavy rains.”
Most at risk are the homes backing to both sides of La Brea—including El Mirador Drive as well as on Don Luis and Don Milagro, where one resident’s back patio is gone, and another mudslide went up to the back door of another resident’s home.
“Luckily,” reports Gonzales, “a lot of people went crazy with the tarping, so we might be a little bit more ready with the next rains.”
One of the biggest challenges for the residents was finding out just who is responsible for the damage—the city or the county. Both apparently have some responsibility as the mudslides continue to compromise homes.
“Our leadership has unified to figure this thing out as the county and the city have responded in a way that will help mitigate the next rain,” Baccus said. “The county has said they are working to divert the water flow from the mudslide area, but there’s also a long term issue we’ve got to deal with. A geologist has been engaged to look at what can be done to further to prevent this from happening in the future.”
A meteorologist for the National Weather Services has said that once this current storm passes, things will look drier for April, with the forecast calling for a 3% to 50% chance of below-average precipitation for California in April, but that the city is not likely to dry out until late spring or early summer.