Landslides cause power outages in upscale LA neighborhood

Dozens of homes on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Los Angeles County have been cut off from power due to worsening landslides.

The community of Rancho Palos Verdes, 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of downtown Los Angeles, has long struggled with unstable ground, but authorities say the problem has worsened in recent months.

Now utility companies are stepping in, fearing fires and other destruction from the rapidly shifting soil, even as some residents want to stay in their million-dollar homes.

Southern California Edison’s decision Sunday left 140 homes in the Portuguese Bend neighborhood without power, with more outages possible.

“The movement has accelerated dramatically over the past 12 months, with some areas moving up to 10 inches of snow per week,” said City Councilman David Bradley, according to CNN.

“You can almost see the ground moving.”

Another 105 customers in the city of 42,000 were told they would be without power on Monday.

Last week, a downed power line caused a small wildfire in Portuguese Bend.

“The ground movement in the Portugal Bend community has created such a dangerous situation that we have made the very difficult decision to shut off power indefinitely to prevent the equipment from starting a wildfire,” said Larry Chung, a spokesman for the power company.

In the posh neighborhood, gas and water have already been turned off.

The 680-acre (276-hectare) landslide has been moving at a slow pace for years. But it has accelerated, in part because of heavy rainfall in California over the past two years, experts say.

“The acceleration that is happening right now is beyond anything we could have ever predicted and requires more response from the state, more response from the federal government,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said at a news conference Sunday.

The top county official added that $5 million (£3.8 million) had been set aside for emergency relief, but more was needed. She called on California Governor Gavin Newsom to personally visit the area and declare a state of emergency.

Authorities have urged residents to leave, but evacuations are not currently mandatory.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said officers would deploy drones to monitor the area.

Resident Jim Denver told ABC News he refused to leave and that Southern California Edison “left us in the middle of the ocean to swim home.”

“They can send as many warnings as they want,” another resident, Tom Keefer, told The New York Times. “We’re not leaving.”

The slow-moving landslide is part of a complex of ancient landslides that were recreated by the 1956 expansion of Crenshaw Boulevard.

It is one of the largest continuously active landslides in the U.S. and has shifted homes hundreds of feet over the years. The city also spends about $1 million a year repairing a major road because of ongoing shifts and cracks.